Abstract
Abstract. The aim of this paper is to analyse and discuss the results of the regional program Rad Campania for the monitoring and the assessment of the radon risk. An innovative methodology, based on a geogenic approach, was developed, supported by a comprehensive campaign of radon measurement performed in soil gas, natural waters, drinking natural water samples and indoor air. Data refer to field measurements carried out in three provinces of the Campania Region (Italy): Salerno, Avellino and Benevento. The programme was completed with the main purpose to investigate the peculiarities of the radon issue at a provincial scale and to redact a map of the radon potential from soil as a tool for authorities to recognise critical areas (“Radon prone areas”) to monitor. Since the experience demonstrates that the high radon potential from soil is not indicative of high indoor radon concentrations, in this paper the authors have tried to identify a possible general correlation between geological features of the soil and structural characteristics of the buildings, elaborating more in depth all data collected. The main purpose is to categorize and analyse the performance of different kind of construction, typical of the local area, in order to develop, in a future work, an indicator of the building performances as a useful tool, for authorities, to recognise constructions potentially more exposed to high indoor radon activity concentrations. Results and perspectives have been discussed.
Highlights
Since its very first moments on the Earth, Mankind has been continuously exposed to ionizing radiations from environmental radioactivity, consisting in three kinds of contribution: cosmogenic, primordial and anthropogenic
The most important primordial source is constituted by radionuclides, such as 40K and the uranium and thorium decay families (238U, 232Th and 235U series)
The only exception is represented by radon, the heaviest chemical noble element, which occurs in the gaseous state at Standard Temperature and Pressure (STP) conditions and naturally does not create chemical bonds
Summary
Since its very first moments on the Earth, Mankind has been continuously exposed to ionizing radiations from environmental radioactivity, consisting in three kinds of contribution: cosmogenic, primordial and anthropogenic. The only exception is represented by radon, the heaviest chemical noble element, which occurs in the gaseous state at Standard Temperature and Pressure (STP) conditions and naturally does not create chemical bonds. It tends, to migrate within the rock materials in the soil, where it has been formed (emanation process), and transported in the near-surface soils by fluid carriers (water, air, CO2, CH4), through advective and diffusive displacements, favoured by the soil mechanical characteristics, (porosity, structure and particle size) and the environmental conditions reaching the atmosphere (exhalation process) or spatial locations distant
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