Indoor radon survey in Greenland and Whitehorse, Canada, and dose assessment

• Indoor radon and its decay products are the primary sources of the population's exposure to background ionizing radiation and one of the leading causes of lung cancer, with a higher risk for smokers due to the synergistic effects of radon decay products and cigarette smoking. In the Arctic and sub-Arctic, winters are longer than at lower latitudes, and people spend more time indoors than in more temperate climate regions. The permafrost acts as an effective radon barrier, reducing indoor radon exposure, but permafrost is now thawing due to climate change, and its effect on indoor radon exposure is unknown. A total of 459 year-long radon measurements in 257 detached and semi-detached residential homes in southwest and south Greenland were carried out and a dose assessment was performed. A community-driven long-term radon survey was completed in 232 residential homes in different subdivisions of sub-Arctic Whitehorse, Canada, during the heating season from November to April in 2016 – 2017 and 2017 – 2018. The annual arithmetic and geometric means of indoor radon concentrations were 10.5 ± 0.2 Bq m-3 and 8.0 ± 2.3 Bq m-3 in Nuuk, 139.0 ± 1.0 Bq m-3 and 97.3 ± 2.1 Bq m-3 in Narsaq, and 42.1 ± 0.7 Bq m-3 and 22.0 ± 3.1 Bq m-3 in Qaqortoq. The arithmetic and geometric means of indoor radon activity concentrations in different subdivisions of Whitehorse ranged from 52 ± 0.6 Bq m-3 and 37 ± 2.3 Bq m-3 in Downtown to 993.0 ± 55.0 Bq m-3 and 726.2 ± 2.4 Bq m-3 in Wolf Creek. Underlying geology and the glacial surfaces may partly explain these variations in indoor radon concentrations. The estimated annual average dose to adults in Greenland and Whitehorse is higher than the world's average annual effective dose of 1.3 mSv due to inhalation of indoor radon.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Occupational Health and Environmental Health (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

natural radioactivity

inhalation dose

Arctic

sub-Arctic

house metrics

permafrost thawing

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