Radon distributions in the Hail Region of Northern Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Indoor radon measurements were carried out in a total of 420 dwellings and 17 schools in Hail region of Saudi Arabia, using NTDs based radon dosimeters. The duration of the measurements was one year, from April 2008 to April 2009. The indoor radon concentrations varied from 4 to 513 Bq/m3 with an overall average of 45 Bq/m3 for all surveyed dwellings. These passive measurements were confirmed by the active measurements. The anomalous concentrations above 200 Bq/m3 were observed in 13 dwellings, representing 3.1 % of the total surveyed dwellings. In Inbowan village alone, it was found that 7.6 % of the dwellings have indoor radon concentration above 200 Bq/m3. The highest average indoor radon concentration of 64 Bq/m3 was found in Inbowan village while the lowest average of 24 Bq/m3 was found in Majasah village. The city of Hail showed an average indoor radon concentration of 49 Bq/m3. The average indoor radon concentration in one area located at the edge of the Aja Mountain in Hail city was 111 Bq/m3. The elevated indoor radon concentrations in many dwellings in the Hail region, prompted us to measure outdoor ground radon in such locations using gas monitor. It was found that radon concentrations at a depth of 0.5 m varied significantly from place to place ranging from 1.2 to 177 kBq/m3. The outdoor radon concentrations are generally correlated with the indoor radon measurements. Radon exhalations from construction materials and soil samples from the Hail region were also measured. It was found that radon exhalations from soil samples are higher than that of construction materials by a factor of at least 3 and reaching up to 11. These results indicate that soil is the main source of indoor radon. Geological interpretations of the results are also given.