Absorption and Determination of Radon in the Environment

Dear Colleagues,

Radon still remains an underestimated problem in terms of risk assessment from environmental factors, taking into account both occupational exposure and exposure to the general public. Radon is a natural, radioactive gas commonly present in the human environment mainly as Rn-222 (radon) and, to a minor extent, as Rn-220 (thoron) isotopes. It is the main contributor—especially its longer living isotope Rn-222 and the short-living descendants Po-218 and Po-214—to the overall effective dose absorbed by human, representing nearly 50%. The US Environmental Protection Agency, US-EPA, indicates radon as the second most important cause of lung cancer, which is responsible for ca. 21,000 deaths per year in the United States.

Recently, the problem of radon has become more visible mainly due to the changing of regulations directly related to the working and living conditions of people exposed to this gas (Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM). The document encourages national authorities to establish so-called national action plans regarding radon, which should promote actions to identify dwellings with increased radon concentrations (which should not exceed 300 Bq·m⁻³) and to identify areas with elevated indoor radon concentrations in houses.

The aims and scope of this Special Issue is to publish and widely disseminate information related to the radiological hazard from radon isotopes and its progenies, methods related to the determination of radon isotopes in air and water, sources of radon isotopes in human environment including water, soil, and building materials (but not only), factors affecting radon levels in dwellings and in occupational conditions, and methods used for controlling radon gas levels in human environment, focusing on limiting its inflow into buildings and impact on human health. For this Special Issue, we encourage submissions of original papers and reviews (the latter should be agreed upon with Guest Editors in advance) on current and emerging methods, procedures, and techniques related to the determination, absorption, and limitation of radon gas in the human environment.

Dr. Piotr Szajerski
Prof. Dr. Henryk Bem
Guest Editors

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• radon
• thoron
• radiological hazard
• radon determination
• radon absorption
• radon exhalation
• radon potential
• radon in air and water
• sources of radon and thoron