Radon and thoron levels, their spatial and seasonal variations in adobe dwellings – a case-study at the Great Hungarian Plain

Szabó, Zsuzsanna and Jordán, Győző and Szabó, Csaba and Horváth, Ákos and Holm, Ó. and Kocsy, Gábor and Csige, István and Szabó, Péter and Homoki, Zsolt (2014) Radon and thoron levels, their spatial and seasonal variations in adobe dwellings – a case-study at the Great Hungarian Plain. Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies, 50 (2). pp. 211-225. ISSN 1025-6016

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Abstract

Radon and thoron isotopes are responsible for approximately the half of the average annual effective dose to humans. Although the half-life of thoron is short, it can potentially enter indoor air from adobe walls. Adobe was a traditional construction material in the Great Hungarian Plain, its major raw material is the alluvial sediments of the area. Here, seasonal radon and thoron activity concentrations were measured in 53 adobe dwellings in seven settlements by pairs of etched track detectors. The results show that the annual average radon and thoron activity concentrations are elevated in these dwellings and that the proportion of them with values higher than 300 Bq m-3 is 14-17% and 29-32% for radon and thoron, respectively. The calculated radon inhalation dose is significantly higher than the world average value exceeding 10 mSv y-1 in three cases. The study suggests that thoron also can be a significant contributor to the inhalation dose. The changes of weather conditions seem to be more relevant in the variation of measurement results than the differences in the local sedimentary geology. Still, on clay the highest, on loess medium and on turf the lowest radon values were detected, but in the case of thoron high values were found to be connected to both clay and turf. Through the year, radon follows the average temperature changes and is affected by the ventilation, however thoron seems to be more influenced by the amount of precipitation.

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