Studies on radon and thoron levels in few dwellings of Kabini River Basin, Karnataka State, India
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Studies on radon and thoron levels in few dwellings of Kabini River Basin, Karnataka State, India T. Yashaswini1,2 · C. Ningappa1,2 · M. C. Subbaramu3,4 · R. S. Niranjan1 · T. S. Shashikumar5 · S. Suresh6 Received: 8 April 2020 © Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2020
Abstract Measurement of indoor radon, thoron and their equilibrium equivalent concentrations in different dwellings around Kabini river basin, Karnataka State, India was carried out using SSNTD based pin-hole dosimeters during 2017–2018. Indoor concentrations of radon and thoron are varied from 18.9 to 156.8 Bq m − 3 and 13.1 to 110.0 Bq m − 3, respectively. The present study reveals that the annual effective dose received by the people of the study area is lesser than the recommended level 3–10 mSv y− 1 of the International Commission of Radiological Protection and is safe from the exposure of radon, thoron and their progenies. Keywords Radon level · SSNTDs · Pin-hole disimeters · DRPS / DTPS · Inhalation dose
Introduction High concentration of radon exposure for a longer time enhances the health-related risk like lung cancer mortality. National Research Council has reported that lung cancer linearly increases with radon exposure [1]. The radon, thoron and their decay products’ exposure in indoor environment leads to greatest risks from ionizing radiation [2]. Radon is one of the natural sources of radiation which does not cause any health risk till it decays to short-lived daughter products [3]. The radiation exposure in human beings from inhalation is due to short-lived decay products of 222Rn and 220Rn. This occurs from environmental and also higher concentrations in * C. Ningappa [email protected] 1
Department of Physics, Vidya Vikas Institute of Engineering and Technology, Mysuru 570028, India
2
Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi 590018, India
3
Environmental Assessment Division, BARC, Trombay, Mumbai 400 085, India
4
148, Moksha Marga, Siddartha Nagar, Mysuru 570 011, India
5
Department of Physics, P.E.S College of Engineering, Mandya 571401, India
6
Department of Physics, SDM College, Uttara Kannada, Honnavara 581334, India
the dwellings. Inhalation of short-lived radon progeny, such as 218Po, 214Pb, 214Bi and 214Po, is an important element of radiation exposure from natural sources [4]. These daughter products are highly mobile and are attached to tiny dust particles in the atmosphere, remain airborne for a longer time, can be easily inhaled from the air and they stick to the lung [5, 6]. Thus, radiological risk of radon or thoron in work places or residential constructions should be evaluated and transport of radon and thoron through materials to indoor air should be examined. Exposure to high radiation levels cause biological effects. The biological effects depend on the quantity and duration of the radiation exposure and hence the study of radiation has attracted much interest [7]. Radon and its isotopes are partly trapped by soil capillaries, rock crystals, granites, building materials, f
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