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From radon hazard to risk prediction-based on geological maps, soil gas and indoor measurements in Germany

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

Mapped geological units can be regarded as proxies standing for a complex series of subsoil geochemical and physical properties including the assigned radon activity concentration in soil gas, which is taken as best estimator of the regional geogenic radon potential. Areal distribution of measuring sites for soil gas in Germany is adapted to spatial variation of geology. A grid-based and distance-weighted interpolation procedure is applied, following geologically defined neighbourhood relations of measuring sites and accounting for isolated outcrops of known geology but without measurements. To investigate the statistical relationship between indoor radon, house type and building ground specifications, measurements of the indoor radon concentration have been carried out in more than 10,000 dwellings in different regions of Germany. Multiple regression analyses of variance reveal that besides region-specific geological properties and building characteristics, various house type and living style variables significantly contribute to the explained variance for ground floor radon concentrations. These parameters are also dominant in controlling the radon transfer relation from soil gas to indoor air. Risk prediction maps for radon in houses indicating the probability to exceed certain indoor threshold values can be useful especially for regions with no or only a few measurements of indoor radon.

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Acknowledgments

The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) funded an essential part of the research program. The authors thank all persons involved for constructive discussions and administrative help. The anonymous reviewers’ valuable comments are also gratefully appreciated.

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Correspondence to A. Siehl.

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Kemski, J., Klingel, R., Siehl, A. et al. From radon hazard to risk prediction-based on geological maps, soil gas and indoor measurements in Germany. Environ Geol 56, 1269–1279 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1226-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1226-z

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