Assessment of lung dose from indoor 222 Rn and 220 Rn exposure in the Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts of Punjab,India

Abstract

Radon (²²²Rn) and its progenies are the main source of the inhalation dose received by humans due to natural radioactivity. Residential houses of different villages of Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts of Punjab, India, were chosen for the present study. An attempt has been made to estimate the dose to lung (D_RL) due to indoor ²²²Rn concentration. The results of observed values of dose rate to lung (D_lung), dose to tracheo-bronchial region (D_T-B), dose to pulmonary + pulmonary lymph region (D_P+PL), dose to lung (D_RL) from ²²²Rn exposure and dose to lung (D_TL) from indoor Thoron (²²⁰Rn) exposure along with their indoor concentration are summarized in this manuscript. The average value of the measured ²²²Rn (C_R) and ²²⁰Rn (C_T) concentration in air is 38 and 61 Bq m⁻³. The value of D_lung varies from 0.76 to 2.52 nGy h⁻¹. The average value of the D_T-B, D_P+PL and D_RL is 1.82, 1.82 and 3.65 nSv, respectively. The average dose received by the lungs from ²²⁰Rn exposure is 0.06 µSv. Since the dose in the study area is less than reference level of 10 mSv as recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), the studied area is safe from the exposure risk of indoor ²²²Rn and ²²⁰Rn.

Keywords

Pin-hole cup dosimeter Tracheo-bronchial Pulmonary + pulmonary lymph and lung

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

ICRP . Radiological protection against radon exposure. ICRP Publication 126. Ann ICRP 2014; 43.

National Research Council. Risk assessment of radon in drinking water, Washington: National Academies Press, 1999.

United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. Annex B. UNSCEAR Report to the General Assembly. UN, New York, 2000.

Nazaroff

Moed

Sextro

Soil as a source of indoor radon: generation, migration and entry. In: Nazaroff

Nero

(eds). Radon and Its Decay Products in Indoor Air, New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1988, pp. 57–112.

Chamberlain

. Radioactive aerosols, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Zock C. Die Messung der Aktivitatsgrossenverteilung des Radioactiven Aerosols der Radonzerfallsprodukteund deren Einflub auf die Strahlendosis beim Menschen, Dissertation, Georg-August-University, Gottingen, Germany (in German), 1996.

Zock

Porstendörfer

Reineking

. The influence of biological and aerosol parameters of inhaled short-lived radon decay products on human lung dose. Radiat Prot Dosim 1996; 63: 197–206.

Valković V. Radioactivity in the environment. Amsterdam: Elsevier B.V. (Science Direct).

Badhan

Mehra

Sonkawade

. Studying the variation of indoor radon levels in different dwellings in Hoshiarpur District of Punjab, India. Indoor Built Environ 2012; 21: 601–606.

10.

Kochhar

Gill

Tuli

Dadwal

Balaram

. Chemical quality of ground water in relation to incidence of cancer in parts of SW Punjab, India. Asian J Water Environ Pollut 2006; 4: 107–112.

11.

Mehra

. Analysis of terrestrial natural radionuclide in soil samples and assessment of average effective dose. Indian J Pure Appl Phys 2010; 48: 805–808.

12.

United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. UNSCEAR, Volume 1, Report to the General Assembly, UN, New York: United Nations, 2008.

13.

Sahoo

Sapra

Kanse

Gaware

Mayya

. A new pin-hole discriminated ²²²Rn/²²⁰Rn passive measurement device with single entry face. Radiat Meas 2013; 58: 52–60.

14.

International Commission on Radiological Protection, ICRP. Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Ann ICRP 1991; 21: 1–3.

15.

ICRP. Protection against Radon-222 at Home and at Work. ICRP Publication 65. Ann ICRP 1993. 23(2).

16.

Nsiah-Akoto

Fletcher

Oppon

Andam

. Indoor Radon levels and the associated effective dose rate determination at dome in the greater Accra Region of Ghana. Res J Environ Earth Sci 2011; 3: 124–130.

17.

ICRP. Human respiratory tract model for radiological protection. ICRP Publication 66. Ann ICRP 1994; 24: 1–3.

18.

ICRP. Limits for inhalation of radon daughters by workers. ICRP Publication 32. Ann ICRP 1981. 6(1).

19.

Abbady

AGE

Rolf

. Indoor radon measurement with The Lucas cell technique. Appl Radiat Isotopes 2004; 61: 1469–1475.

20.

Porstendorfer

. Physical parameters and dose factors of the Radon and Thoron decay products. Radiat Prot Dosimetry 2001; 94: 365–373.

21.

United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. UNSCEAR Report to the General Assembly, UN, New York: United Nations, 2006.