International Atomic Energy Agency
Learning programme on:
Radon gas
Module 1:
What is radon?
Radon and its health effects
Content
• What is radon?
• Why is it of concern?
• Global levels of radon
• The impact of radon on health
• The combined effect with smoking
• How radon enters homes and workplaces
• Variations and fluctuations in radon levels
• Summary learning points
What is radon?
• Radon is a radioactive gas
• It is natural and is everywhere
• It is continually produced by
the decay of uranium, which
occurs naturally in soils and
rocks
Radon
• Once produced, radon
escapes into the open air
unless it enters a building or Radium
enclosed space
Uranium
Why is radon of concern?
• Radon is a known cause of lung
cancer (Class 1 carcinogen*)
• Radon is responsible for almost
one half of total ionising radiation
dose received by the public each
year.
• Radon exposure can be controlled
so as to reduce its health effects
• Radon health risk is 25 times
UNSCEAR, 2008 REPORT Vol. I Annex B
greater for people who smoke
Worldwide radon accounts for 3% to 16% of all lung cancer deaths,
depending on the average radon concentration in the country
(WHO Handbook on Radon, 2009)
*International Agency for Research on Cancer
National Average Radon – UNSCEAR 2006
UNSCEAR 2006 Report: "Effects of ionizing radiation"
National Average Radon – UNSCEAR 2006 cont’d
UNSCEAR 2006 Report: "Effects of ionizing radiation"
Health effects of radon exposure
When radon gas is inhaled, alpha particles from radon decay products
can interact with biological tissue in the lungs leading to DNA damage.
Relative risk of lung cancer
European pooling, Darby et al 2005, 2006.
A smoker of 1 pack of cigarettes per day has a 25 fold
higher risk of lung cancer than a lifelong nonsmoker.
Radiation dose from indoor radon:
a comparison
The radiation dose
Annual average radon
received is
concentration in the
approximately
home
equivalent to:
Less than one Chest
200 Bq/m3
X-ray per day
400 Bq/m3 1 Chest X-ray per day
800 Bq/m3 3 Chest X-rays per day
2 000 Bq/m3 7 Chest X-rays per day
History of health effects of radon
• Health effects of radon recorded in the 16th Century amongst
miners in Central Europe
• Lung cancer in 75% of miners from Schneeberg, Germany in the
19th century
• 1960: first epidemiological studies of miners identified a linear
relationship between lung cancer risk and radon levels
• 1988: radon classified as human carcinogen by the International
Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
• In the 1980s and 1990s various
epidemiological studies on lung cancer risk by
residential radon were conducted in Europe,
North America and China
• 2005: two large pooled epidemiological studies
published – Darby (2005) and Krewski (2005)
Radon pathways into buildings
Source: [Link] (EPA Ireland)
Other sources of radon in buildings
Building material
• Stones, bricks, tiles always contain some
amount of radionuclides including radium.
• If the radium concentration is high, gamma
radiation is also of concern.
• Radon releases from building material into the
indoor environment.
Well water
• Radon dissolves in water in the geological
environment.
• Radon is released from water during water use,
mainly through showering.
• Radon is not a concern in surface water
sources as the gas is released before it
reaches the home.
• Ingestion of radon in water is not considered a
health concern.
Radon levels in buildings
Radon levels indoors are
influenced by:
• Soil gas radon concentration
• Soil permeability
• Cracks and gaps in the
structure
• Level and type of
heating/ventilation
• Basement, ground, upper
floors
• Usage of the building
including the habits of
occupants
Source: BfS Germany • Season and weather
Temporal variation of indoor
radon concentration
800
700
Winter season
600 Summer season
Radon concentration (Bq/m3)
500
400
300
200
100
0
Days
Source: BfS Germany
Temporal variation of indoor
radon concentration
1000
arrival back home,
windows and doors
900 Morning, windows opened
are partly opened
800 back home,
cooking, win-
dows and
Radon concentration (Bq/m3)
at work, closed windows
700
doors partly
opened
600
500
night, closed windows
400
300
weekend out of the
200 city, closed windows
100
0
13/04/2012 14/04/2012 15/04/2012 16/04/2012 17/04/2012 18/04/2012 19/04/2012 20/04/2012
Time
Source: BfS Germany
Summary Learning Points
• Radon is a radioactive, odourless, colourless, natural gas
which comes from soil and rocks
• Radon gas is a carcinogen and causes lung cancer
• Lung cancer risk from radon is 25 times greater for smokers
• Radon enters buildings through cracks and gaps in the
structure
• Radon levels can vary geographically due to geological
features
• Radon levels can vary within the building itself, as well as
can fluctuate daily and seasonally
• Radon exposure can be controlled to decrease the radon
concentration and; therefore, the lung cancer risk. This will
be addressed in Module 2.
Further Reading
• International Atomic Energy Agency (2015). Protection of the Public against
Exposure Indoors due to Radon and Other Natural Sources of Radiation.
Specific Safety Guide. IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSG-32.
• World Health Organization (2009). Handbook on Indoor Radon: A Public
Health Perspective, Geneva.
• World Health Organization (2010). WHO guidelines for indoor air quality:
selected pollutants, Copenhagen.
• World Health Organization (2011). Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality,
Geneva.
• World Health Organization (2018). Management of Radioactivity in
Drinking-water, Geneva.
• International Agency for Research on Cancer (2012). Radiation. (IARC
Monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans, Vol. 100D),
Lyon.
Further Reading
• Krewski D., et al. (2005). Residential radon and risk of lung cancer:
a combined analysis of seven North American case-control studies.
Epidemiology, 16: 137-145.
• Darby, S., et al., (2004). Radon in homes and risk of lung cancer:
collaborative analysis of individual data from 13 European case
studies, British Medical Journal 330: 223-228.
• European Commission (1999). Radiological protection principles
concerning the natural radioactivity of building materials. Radiation
Protection 112, EC, Luxembourg.
July 2018