Radiological assessment of radon concentration, radon exhalation rate, and annual effective dose of building materials used in Erbil city Kurdistan region, Iraq

Abstract

ABSTRACT Radon gas has long been connected with human public health risks. Building materials, one of the biggest producers of this gas in enclosed areas, are thought to be among the most important channels of this gas. The radon concentration, radon exhalation rate as well as the annual effective dose for 52 building material samples (granite, ceramic, marble, mosaic, building stones, gypsum, gypsum board, block, lightweight block, sand, aggregate, limestone, concrete, siporex, cement, white cement, brick and red brick) in Erbil city were assessed by applying a radon detection system consisting of a length-pipeline approach using CR-39 SSNTDs as an inactive mode and an electronic RAD7 solid-state detector as a can way. The outcomes of passive and active approaches were found to be very comparable. The highest values of radon exhalation rate, radon concentration and indoor yearly effective dosage were recorded, respectively, as 0.546 ± 0.032 Bq.m−2.h −1, 290.2 ± 17 Bq.m−3 and 7.32 ± 0.43 mSv.y −1 for granite samples, while the lowest values were 0.057 ± 0.003 Bq.m−2.h −1, 30.2 ± 1.8 Bq.m −3 and 0.76 ± 0.05 mSv.y −1 for the gypsum board samples. The results also revealed that the radon exhalation rate was lower than the global average of 57.600 Bq.m −2.h −1, and the indoor annual effective dose for all samples except for granite samples was less than the allowed threshold of 1–5 mSv.y−1. The annual effective dose for all samples was above the average world value of 1.2 mSv.y −1 reported by UNSCEAR and WHO except for gypsum board samples. The radon concentrations in granite samples were within the ICRP’s suggested activity ranges of 200 to 600 Bq.m−3.