Numerical modeling of the sources and behaviors of 222Rn, 220Rn and their progenies in the indoor environment-A review

J Environ Radioact. 2018 Sep:189:40-47. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2018.03.006. Epub 2018 Mar 22.

Abstract

222Rn, 220Rn and their short-lived progenies are well known radioactive indoor pollutants, identified as the leading environmental cause of lung cancer next to smoking. Apart from the conventional measurement methods, numerical modeling methods are developed to simulate their physical and decay processes in 222Rn and 220Rn's life cycle, estimate their levels, concentration distributions, as well as effects of control strategies in the indoor environment. In this article, we summarized the numerical models used to illustrate the physical processes of each source of 222Rn and 220Rn entry into the indoor environment, and the application of Jacobi room models and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamic) models used to present the behaviors of indoor 222Rn, 220Rn and their progenies. Furthermore, we consider that the development of numerical modeling of 222Rn and 220Rn would have a bright prospect in the directions of stochastic methods based on a steady-state model, the fine simulation of the time-dependent model as well as the multi-dimension model.

Keywords: (220)Rn; (222)Rn; Behavior; Numerical modeling; Progeny; Source.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Air Pollutants, Radioactive / analysis*
  • Air Pollution, Indoor / analysis
  • Air Pollution, Indoor / statistics & numerical data*
  • Models, Chemical*
  • Radiation Monitoring / methods*
  • Radon / analysis*

Substances

  • Air Pollutants, Radioactive
  • Radon-220
  • Radon-222
  • Radon