Development of a Geogenic Radon Hazard Index—Concept, History, Experiences
Exposure to indoor radon at home and in workplaces constitutes a serious public health risk and is the second most prevalent cause of lung cancer after tobacco smoking. Indoor radon concentration is to a large extent controlled by so-called geogenic radon, which is radon generated in the ground. Whi...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-06-01
|
Series: | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/4134 |
id |
doaj-6cab56a2a019401f93ebef28ad52be7d |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-6cab56a2a019401f93ebef28ad52be7d2020-11-25T03:17:07ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1661-78271660-46012020-06-01174134413410.3390/ijerph17114134Development of a Geogenic Radon Hazard Index—Concept, History, ExperiencesPeter Bossew0Giorgia Cinelli1Giancarlo Ciotoli2Quentin G. Crowley3Marc De Cort4Javier Elío Medina5Valeria Gruber6Eric Petermann7Tore Tollefsen8German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), 10318 Berlin, GermanyEuropean Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, ItalyInstitute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering, National Research Council, 00015 Rome, ItalySchool of Natural Sciences, Geology, Trinity College, Dublin D02 PN40, IrelandEuropean Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, ItalyDepartment of Planning, Aalborg University, 2450 Copenhagen, DenmarkDepartment for Radon and Radioecology, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), 4020 Linz, AustriaGerman Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), 10318 Berlin, GermanyEuropean Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, ItalyExposure to indoor radon at home and in workplaces constitutes a serious public health risk and is the second most prevalent cause of lung cancer after tobacco smoking. Indoor radon concentration is to a large extent controlled by so-called geogenic radon, which is radon generated in the ground. While indoor radon has been mapped in many parts of Europe, this is not the case for its geogenic control, which has been surveyed exhaustively in only a few countries or regions. Since geogenic radon is an important predictor of indoor radon, knowing the local potential of geogenic radon can assist radon mitigation policy in allocating resources and tuning regulations to focus on where it needs to be prioritized. The contribution of geogenic to indoor radon can be quantified in different ways: the geogenic radon potential (GRP) and the geogenic radon hazard index (GRHI). Both are constructed from geogenic quantities, with their differences tending to be, but not always, their type of geographical support and optimality as indoor radon predictors. An important feature of the GRHI is consistency across borders between regions with different data availability and Rn survey policies, which has so far impeded the creation of a European map of geogenic radon. The GRHI can be understood as a generalization or extension of the GRP. In this paper, the concepts of GRP and GRHI are discussed and a review of previous GRHI approaches is presented, including methods of GRHI estimation and some preliminary results. A methodology to create GRHI maps that cover most of Europe appears at hand and appropriate; however, further fine tuning and validation remains on the agenda.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/4134geogenic radon hazard indexgeogenic radon potentialEuropean map of geogenic radon |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Peter Bossew Giorgia Cinelli Giancarlo Ciotoli Quentin G. Crowley Marc De Cort Javier Elío Medina Valeria Gruber Eric Petermann Tore Tollefsen |
spellingShingle |
Peter Bossew Giorgia Cinelli Giancarlo Ciotoli Quentin G. Crowley Marc De Cort Javier Elío Medina Valeria Gruber Eric Petermann Tore Tollefsen Development of a Geogenic Radon Hazard Index—Concept, History, Experiences International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health geogenic radon hazard index geogenic radon potential European map of geogenic radon |
author_facet |
Peter Bossew Giorgia Cinelli Giancarlo Ciotoli Quentin G. Crowley Marc De Cort Javier Elío Medina Valeria Gruber Eric Petermann Tore Tollefsen |
author_sort |
Peter Bossew |
title |
Development of a Geogenic Radon Hazard Index—Concept, History, Experiences |
title_short |
Development of a Geogenic Radon Hazard Index—Concept, History, Experiences |
title_full |
Development of a Geogenic Radon Hazard Index—Concept, History, Experiences |
title_fullStr |
Development of a Geogenic Radon Hazard Index—Concept, History, Experiences |
title_full_unstemmed |
Development of a Geogenic Radon Hazard Index—Concept, History, Experiences |
title_sort |
development of a geogenic radon hazard index—concept, history, experiences |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
issn |
1661-7827 1660-4601 |
publishDate |
2020-06-01 |
description |
Exposure to indoor radon at home and in workplaces constitutes a serious public health risk and is the second most prevalent cause of lung cancer after tobacco smoking. Indoor radon concentration is to a large extent controlled by so-called geogenic radon, which is radon generated in the ground. While indoor radon has been mapped in many parts of Europe, this is not the case for its geogenic control, which has been surveyed exhaustively in only a few countries or regions. Since geogenic radon is an important predictor of indoor radon, knowing the local potential of geogenic radon can assist radon mitigation policy in allocating resources and tuning regulations to focus on where it needs to be prioritized. The contribution of geogenic to indoor radon can be quantified in different ways: the geogenic radon potential (GRP) and the geogenic radon hazard index (GRHI). Both are constructed from geogenic quantities, with their differences tending to be, but not always, their type of geographical support and optimality as indoor radon predictors. An important feature of the GRHI is consistency across borders between regions with different data availability and Rn survey policies, which has so far impeded the creation of a European map of geogenic radon. The GRHI can be understood as a generalization or extension of the GRP. In this paper, the concepts of GRP and GRHI are discussed and a review of previous GRHI approaches is presented, including methods of GRHI estimation and some preliminary results. A methodology to create GRHI maps that cover most of Europe appears at hand and appropriate; however, further fine tuning and validation remains on the agenda. |
topic |
geogenic radon hazard index geogenic radon potential European map of geogenic radon |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/4134 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT peterbossew developmentofageogenicradonhazardindexconcepthistoryexperiences AT giorgiacinelli developmentofageogenicradonhazardindexconcepthistoryexperiences AT giancarlociotoli developmentofageogenicradonhazardindexconcepthistoryexperiences AT quentingcrowley developmentofageogenicradonhazardindexconcepthistoryexperiences AT marcdecort developmentofageogenicradonhazardindexconcepthistoryexperiences AT javiereliomedina developmentofageogenicradonhazardindexconcepthistoryexperiences AT valeriagruber developmentofageogenicradonhazardindexconcepthistoryexperiences AT ericpetermann developmentofageogenicradonhazardindexconcepthistoryexperiences AT toretollefsen developmentofageogenicradonhazardindexconcepthistoryexperiences |
_version_ |
1724633229196001280 |