In the present study, an attempt has been made to estimate the actual dose received by the residents due to their exposure to indoor radon, indoor thoron and radon concentration in water of Bathinda district of Punjab considering the different factors like dissolution of gases in blood and contribution of waterborne radon in increasing indoor radon levels following various protocols set up by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The calculated values have shown a good positive correlation (R2 = 0.80) between indoor radon concentration and concentration of radon gas in soil in Bathinda district of Punjab, India. The correlation has been successfully established by using alpha spectrometry technique. Along with this, another linear relationship has also been established between indoor radon concentration and indoor thoron concentration keeping site conditions constant. The ratio of indoor thoron concentration to indoor radon concentration ranges from 0.68 to 1.53 with an average value of 1.10 which indicates that thoron contribution is not negligible in comparison to radon and hence its measurements cannot be neglected. The annual effective dose contributed due to inhalation of radon is 0.86 mSv and due to thoron is 0.96 mSv which is lower than the world average value of annual effective dose reported by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, 2000.
KhanHAQureshiIETufailM. Passive dosimetry of radon and its daughters using SSNTDs. Radiat Prot Dosim1993; 46(3): 149–170.
2.
ICRP, International Commission on Radiological Protection. Lung cancer risk from radon and progeny and statement on radon. Ann ICRP 2010; 40(1) (ICRP Pub., 115).
3.
WHO, World Health Organization. Handbook on indoor radon: a public health perspective, Geneva: WHO, 2010.
4.
Abu-JaradFFremlinJH. A working level monitoring for radon measurements inside houses. Radiat Protect Dosim1981; 1: 221–226.
5.
KellerGFolkertsKH. Radon − 222 concentrations and decay product equilibrium in dwellings and in the open air. Health Phys1984; 47: 385–398.
6.
NazaroffWWDoyleSM. Radon entry into houses having a crawl space. Health Phys1985; 48: 265–281.
7.
SinghSMehraRSinghK. Seasonal variation of indoor radon in dwellings of Malwa region of Punjab. Atmos Environ2005; 39: 7761–7767.
8.
PershagenGAkerblomGAxeklsonOClavensjoBDamberLDesaiGEnfloALagardeFMellanderHSvartgengreenMSwedjemaekGA. Residential radon exposure and lung cancer in Sweden. Nucl Engl J Med1994; 330: 159–164.
9.
LubinJHBoiceDJr. Lung cancer risk from residential radon: meta-analysis of eight epidemiological studies. J Natl Cancer Inst1997; 89: 49–57.
10.
DarbySHillDAuvinenABarros-DiosJMBayssonHBochicchioFDeoHFalkRForastiereFHakamaMHeidIKreienbrockLKreuzerMLagardeFMäkeläinenIMuirheadCOberaignerWPershagenGRuano-RavinaARuosteenojaESchaffrath RosarioATirmarcheMTomáBekLWhitleyEWichmannHEDollR. Radon in homes and risk of lung cancer: collaborative analysis of individual data from 13 European case-control studies. Br Med J2005; 330: 223.
11.
KrewskiDLubinJHZielinskiJMAlavanjaM. Catalan VS and Field RW. A combined analysis of North American case-control studies of residential radon and lung cancer. Epidemiology2005; 16: 146–154.
12.
US EPA, United States Environmental Protection Agency. National primary drinking water regulations for radionuclides: proposed rule. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1991, EPA/ 570/9-91/700.
13.
National Academy of Sciences Report. Risk assessment of radon in drinking water, Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999. . [ISBN 0-309-52474-1, 18.].
14.
KhanFAliNKhanEUKhattakNUKhanK. Radon Monitoring in water sources of Balakot and Mansehra cities lying on a geological fault line. Radiat Prot Dosim2010; 138: 174–179.
15.
Hess CT, Vietti MA, Lachappelle EN and Guillemette JF. Radon transferred from drinking water into house air. Report to Craun GF, Health Effects Research Division, US Environmental Protection Agency. Report no 813554-01-0, 1989. Cincinnati, OH.
16.
KhanAJ. A study of indoor radon levels in Indian dwellings, influencing factors and lung cancer risks. Radiat Meas2000; 32: 87–92.
17.
SevcJKunzEPlacekV. Lung cancer in uranium miners and long term exposure to radon daughter products. Health Phys1976; 30: 433–437.
18.
FalkR. Respiratory tract deposition of radon daughters in humans. Radiat Prot Dosim1984; 7(1–4): 377–380.
19.
United Nations. Sources and effects of ionizing radiation. United nations scientific committee on the effects of atomic radiation, 1993 report to the general assembly, with scientific annexes. United Nations, New York: United Nations sales publication E.94.IX.2.1993.
20.
KendalGMSmithTJ. Dose to organs and tissues from radon and its decay products. J Radiol Prot2002; 22: 389–406.
21.
ZhuoWIidaTYangX. Occurrence of 222Rn, 226Ra, 228Ra and U in groundwater in Fujain province. Chin J Environ Radioact2001; 53: 111–120.
Ramachandran TV, Shaikh AN, Eappen KP, Nair NB, and Nambi KSV. Experiences with a radon calibration facility for SSNTD. In: Proceedings of 3rd international conference on rare gas geochemistry, Amritsar, India, 10–14 December 1995, pp.100–111.
24.
UNSCEAR. Sources and effects of ionizing radiation, annex b: exposures from natural radiation sources, New York, NY: UNSCEAR, 2000.
25.
MehraRBalaP. Estimation of annual effective dose due to Radon level in indoor air and soil gas in Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh. J Geochem Explor2014; 142: 16–20.
26.
ChoubeyVMRamolaRC. Correlation between geology and radon levels in groundwater, soil and indoor air in Bhilangana valley, Garhwal Himalaya, India. Environ Geol1997; 32(4): 258–262.
27.
RafiqueMMalikFMatiullah ManzoorNRajputMU. Assessment of annual effective dose due to the indoor radon exposure in districts Bagh and Kahuta of the Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. Indoor Built Environ2012; 21(3): 458–464.
28.
AliNKhanEUAkhterPKhanFWaheedA. Estimation of mean annual effective dose through radon concentration in the water and indoor air of Islamabad and Murree. Radiat Protect Dosim2010; 141: 183–191.
29.
AbumuradKMAl-TamimiM. Emanation power of radon and its concentration in soil and rocks. Radiat Meas2001; 34(1–6): 423–426.
30.
UNSCEAR. Sources and effects of ionizing radiation: report to the general assembly with scientific annexes, New York, NY: United Nations, 2008.
31.
European Commission. Commission Recommendation of 20 December 2001 on the protection of the public against exposure to radon in drinking water supplies. Off J Eur Comm2001; L344: 85–88.
32.
SinghJSinghLSinghS. High U-Contents observed in some drinking waters of Punjab, India. J Environ Radioact1995; 26: 217–222.
33.
KumarAUshaNSawantPDTripathiRMRajSSMishraMRoutSSupreetaPSinghJKumarSKushwahaHS. Risk assessment for natural uranium in subsurface water of Punjab state, India. Hum Ecol Risk Assess2011; 17(2): 381–393.
34.
IsmailAHHajiHO. Analysis of radon concentrations in drinking water in Erbil governorate (Iraqi Kurdistan) and its health effects. Tikrit J Pure Sci2008; 13(3): 1–9.
35.
CosmaCMoldovanMDicuTKovacsT. Radon in water from Transylvania (Romania). Radiat Meas2008; 43: 1423–1428.
36.
International Commission on Radiological Protection. Protection against radon-222 at home and at work. ICRP publication 65. Ann ICRP1993; 22(2): 1–38.
37.
WHO, World Health organization. Guidelines for drinking water quality2003; 3rd ed. Vol 1: Geneva: World Health Organization.
38.
European Commission. Commission directive of defining requirements for the parameters for radioactivity for monitoring the quality of water for the council directive 98/83/EC of 3rd November 1998 on the quality of water intended for human consumption. Official J Eur Comm1998; 330: 32–54.
