Measurement of radon/thoron exhalation rates and gamma-ray dose rate in granite areas in Japan

Radiat Prot Dosimetry. 2012 Nov;152(1-3):130-4. doi: 10.1093/rpd/ncs206. Epub 2012 Aug 23.

Abstract

Radon and thoron exhalation rates and gamma-ray dose rate in different places in Hiroshima Prefecture were measured. Exhalation rates were measured using an accumulation chamber method. The radon exhalation rate was found to vary from 3 to 37 mBq m(-2) s(-1), while the thoron exhalation rate ranged from 40 to 3330 mBq m(-2) s(-1). The highest radon exhalation rate (37 mBq m(-2) s(-1)) and gamma-ray dose rate (92 nGy h(-1)) were found in the same city (Kure City). In Kure City, indoor radon and thoron concentrations were previously measured at nine selected houses using a radon-thoron discriminative detector (Raduet). The indoor radon concentrations varied from 16 to 78 Bq m(-3), which was higher than the average value in Japan (15.5 Bq m(-3)). The indoor thoron concentration ranged from ND (not detected: below a detection limit of approximately 10 Bq m(-3)) to 314 Bq m(-3). The results suggest that radon exhalation rate from the ground is an influential factor for indoor radon concentration.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Air Pollutants, Radioactive / analysis*
  • Air Pollution, Indoor / analysis
  • Environmental Exposure
  • Environmental Monitoring / methods
  • Gamma Rays
  • Geography
  • Housing
  • Japan
  • Radiation Monitoring / methods*
  • Radiometry / methods
  • Radon / analysis*
  • Scintillation Counting / methods
  • Silicon Dioxide
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Air Pollutants, Radioactive
  • granite
  • Silicon Dioxide
  • Radon