Assessment of seasonal indoor radon concentration in dwellings of Western Haryana

Abstract

Abstract Naturally occurring radon 222Rn in indoor air is a significant cause of lung cancer and the houses are an important exposure location due to the large proportion of time spent at home. The indoor radon measurements have been carried out in some of the dwellings belonging to different villages of Fatehbad and Hisar districts of Western Haryana. LR-115 Type II plastic track detectors in bare mode were used for the measurement of indoor radon concentration for over a period of one year. The calculated annual average indoor radon concentration values vary from 126.3 Bq m−3 to 172.1 Bq m−3 with an average value of 145.21 Bq m−3, which is less than the recommended action level (200–300 Bq m−3). The values of annual effective dose vary from 2.16 mSv to 2.94 mSv which is less than the lower limit of the recommended action level (3–10 mSv). The measured values of lifetime fatality risk vary from 1.67 to 2.27 with an average value of 1.92. The winter to summer ratio calculated for the studied dwellings ranges from 0.86 to 2.15 with an average of 1.46. The results indicate that the indoor radon concentration is higher in winter season than in the summer season. An attempt has also been made to find a correlation between the ventilation conditions and the measured values of indoor radon concentration. In most of the cases the radon values are less in well ventilated houses than partially/poorly ventilated houses. The measured indoor radon concentration values for the studied area are on the higher side than the world average of 40 Bq m−3.