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Radon survey in dwellings of Gansu, China: the influence of thoron and an attempt for correction

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Abstract

Alpha track detectors used in a previous investigation of the US National Cancer Institute and the China Ministry of Health on indoor radon (222Rn) in Gansu, China, proved to be influenced by 220Rn (thoron), thus overestimating the 222Rn level. Therefore, the detector was improved used in the previous survey. The new detectors allow discrimination between the two isotopes without any disturbance of the 222Rn measurement. With this detector, a semi-annual study was conducted in 49 traditional dwellings of a village in Gansu. The arithmetic (AM) and geometric (GM) mean 222Rn concentrations were 120 ± 61 and 105 Bq m−3 (with geometric standard deviation GSD = 1.8), respectively, while the mean 220Rn concentrations at 2.5 cm wall distance were 430 ± 210 Bq m−3 (AM) and 350 Bq m−3 (GM) with GSD = 2.3. The high thoron concentrations demonstrate the importance of the 220Rn contribution to radiation exposure, in the investigated area. The actual level of indoor 222Rn was about three times lower than that in the previous investigation which was affected by 220Rn. A correction method for the radon results of the previous study is proposed, which provides 222Rn and 220Rn values comparable with those obtained in the study presented here.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Prof. Yukimasa Ikebe and Prof. Takao Iida, Nagoya University, Japan, for their useful help throughout the detector improvement, and Prof. Daniel J. Steck, St. John’s University, USA, for his constructive comments on the manuscript. We also want to thank Ms. Wang Liping and Mr. Chen Tongxing for their field work. This study was partially supported by the National Science Foundation of China, contract 30470530 and 30610103028 (2006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Radiological Protection (NIRP), 100088, Beijing, China

    Bing Shang, Hongxing Cui & Ying Xia

  2. Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Institute for Radiation Protection, 85764, Neuherberg, Germany

    Jochen Tschiersch

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  1. Bing Shang
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  2. Jochen Tschiersch
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  3. Hongxing Cui
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  4. Ying Xia
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Correspondence to Bing Shang.

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Shang, B., Tschiersch, J., Cui, H. et al. Radon survey in dwellings of Gansu, China: the influence of thoron and an attempt for correction. Radiat Environ Biophys 47, 367–373 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-008-0163-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-008-0163-2

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