Airborne radon concentrations in different environments in Korea

Little information has been presented average radon concentrations in the living spaces in Korea to date although radon has become a great concern in recent years to the Korean population due to association with the lung cancer risk. Since radon related health risks depends on long-term exposure, it is vital to know the relationship between these short-term measurements and long-term radon concentrations in the different living spaces. Previous studies have shown that many factors may contribute to the temporal and geographic variation in radon entry and retention in living spaces. These factors may differ from one region of the country to another and over time. Thus, it is important that comparisons of different measurement protocols include samples drawn from a broad range of radon sources, different types of environments, and lifestyles. The present work compares the results of short-term and long-term surveys of radon measurements conducted in various areas in Korea that contains average radon-strength sources, different types of living spaces, and different seasons. Most of average airborne radon concentrations using track etch radon detectors were measured in different environments such as houses, subway stations, underground stores, indoor and outdoor office buildings. In addition to these studies, a series of radon surveys using passive integrating radon cup monitors were undertaken in different types of dwellings in Seoul for one year since April 1996, while the same survey using radon discriminative dosimeters were conducted in major six cities in Korea. Radon concentrations in basements in the selected dwellings were higher than those levels measured in the first floor, while indoor radon concentrations were significantly higher than the corresponding outdoor levels at six survey sites. The results suggest the need to more definitely assess sources of radon concentrations as well as to provide more information about technical measurements of different radon monitors. (author)