Survey of radon concentrations in bone-coal mining areas and inside BCCB houses in five provinces

It was investigated that the radon concentrations in bone-coal mining areas, in outside and inside BCCB houses and ordinary red-brick (ORB) houses of the reference points in Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Anhui Provinces. It was shown that the average annual radon concentration inside BCCB houses in the bone-coal mining areas in the five provinces ranges from 85.7 to 303 Bq/m3, with an average of 151 Bq/m3, which is 3 times that inside ORB houses at the reference points. The average annual radon concentration outside BCCB houses in the bone-coal mining areas in the five provinces ranges from 12.0 to 73.8 Bq/m3, with an average of 34.9 Bq/m3, which is 1.5 times that outside ordinary ORB at the reference points. And the radon concentration in shafts of Hubei and Zhejiang Province is 9.51 x 103 Bq/m3 and 965 Bq/m3, respectively. This report also shows the changing patterns of radon concentrations with day, season, height, etc. (authors)