Measurement of Indoor Radon Concentration Levels and Effective Dose Assessment in the Zanjan City, Iran

Mohammad Nejatolahi¹, Farzad Mehrjo^2, , Ali Sheykhi¹ and Farzad Vaziri Alamdarlo³

¹Department of Environmental Science and Natural Resource, Malayer University, Malayer, Iran

²Environmental Sciences Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

³Department of physics, Malayer University, Malayer, Iran

Cite this paper:
Mohammad Nejatolahi, Farzad Mehrjo, Ali Sheykhi and Farzad Vaziri Alamdarlo. Measurement of Indoor Radon Concentration Levels and Effective Dose Assessment in the Zanjan City, Iran. Journal of Environment Pollution and Human Health. 2015; 3(1):1-3. doi: 10.12691/jephh-3-1-1

Abstract

With growing understanding of the role of radon and its daughter products as the major sources of radiation exposure, the importance of estimating radon concentration in various parts of the country has been realized. Indoor radon radioactivity in 200 houses in Zanjan city was measured using Durridge Rad 7. It is a portable, easy to use, and very sensitive device. Ten per cent of the houses had radon concentrations of above 100 Bq/m3, which is taken by WHO as the action level. The remained 90% had the concentration of less than this level. The average annual effective dose of the indoor radon was calculated, using the equation, which is introduced by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation.

Keywords:
indoor radon environmental radioactivity radon dose calculation

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