What is Radon?
• Colorless gas
• Odorless gas
• Tasteless gas
• Naturally Occurring
• Radioactive
• Inert, does not chemically react (Noble Gas)
1
A Radon - 222 Nucleus
• Protons = 86
• Neutrons = 136
• Atomic Mass = 222
• Atomic Number
= 86
2
Periodic Table of the Elements
Rn
86
222
3
Radon Decay Products (RDPs)
Uranium-238 Radon-222 Bismuth-210
Thorium-234 Polonium-218 Polonium-210
Protactinium-234 Lead-214 Lead-206
(Stable)
Uranium-234 Bismuth-214
Thorium-230 Polonium-214
Uranium 238
Radium-226 Lead-210 Decay Series
4
5
6
What conditions must be present for high
indoor-radon levels? Four conditions
must be present. The building must:
1. be built on ground that contains sufficient
uranium.
2. have underlying soil that allows easy
movement of radon.
3. have porous building materials, cracks, or
other openings below the ground surface that
allows radon from soil to enter the building.
4. have a lower air pressure inside than in the
soil around the foundation 7
Radon is estimated to be the second
leading cause of lung cancer after
cigarette smoking.
It has been suggested that radon may
also cause other types of cancer,
for example, leukaemia.
8
Chances of getting lung cancer are higher from
the combination of smoking and radon than from
either source alone.
Not everyone who is exposed to radon develops
the disease, but the chances increase with
increasing levels of radon and length of exposure.
The amount of time between exposure and onset
of the disease is usually many years.
9
What are the health risks of radon?
Radon decays into radioactive particles that
can be trapped in the lungs when inhaled.
These particles release small bursts of energy
that damage lung tissue and may lead to lung
cancer.
10
• The radiation may damage the cell, so chromosomes or
DNA molecules may break.
• Also, chemical bonds is break and create free radicals
(70% H2O) which are produce new chemical compound
unhealthy compound.
• Rad.+H2o----------- HO. + H.
• Ho. + Ho. ------------ H2O2
The change cells Grow out of control
• Cells that grow out of control become cancers
• leukemia/lymphoma and “solid cancer”
11
-The cells grow out of control and become cancers
Detector that measure radon
(RD-200)
It is a portable radon
detector. It is
designed for
determining radon
concentration and
distinguishing
between its two main
isotopes.
13
Radon Measurement Units
• picoCurie per Liter (pCi/L)
• Becquerel per cubic meter (Bq/m3)
1 pCi/L = 37 Bq/m3
14
If radon is natural, why is it a hazard?
Outdoor radon levels never reach
dangerous concentrations because air
movement scatters radon into the
atmosphere. Radon is a hazard in buildings
because the gas collects in enclosed
spaces.
15
IAEA stated that, optimized action
levels relating to exposure involving
radon in dwellings should, in most
situations, fall with in a yearly average
concentration of 200 to 60 B q/m3 (5.4 to
16.2 pCi/L) of Rn222 in air.
(Safety Series No. 115, IAEA, 1996)
16
The US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has set a level of concern or
"action level" for homes, above which
remedial action should be considered.
This radiation level is currently an annual
average of
4 picoCuries per liter of air (pCi/L).
(EPA, 2002)
17
