Voltattorni, N.; Gasparini, A.; Galli, G. The Analysis of 222Rn and 220Rn Natural Radioactivity for Local Hazard Estimation: The Case Study of Cerveteri (Central Italy). Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2023, 20, 6420.
Voltattorni, N.; Gasparini, A.; Galli, G. The Analysis of 222Rn and 220Rn Natural Radioactivity for Local Hazard Estimation: The Case Study of Cerveteri (Central Italy). Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 6420.
Voltattorni, N.; Gasparini, A.; Galli, G. The Analysis of 222Rn and 220Rn Natural Radioactivity for Local Hazard Estimation: The Case Study of Cerveteri (Central Italy). Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2023, 20, 6420.
Voltattorni, N.; Gasparini, A.; Galli, G. The Analysis of 222Rn and 220Rn Natural Radioactivity for Local Hazard Estimation: The Case Study of Cerveteri (Central Italy). Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 6420.
Abstract
Radon (222Rn) is the second most common type of lung cancer after smoking. As radon poses a significant risk to human health, radon-affected areas should be to ensure people’s awareness of risk and remediation. The primary goal of this research was to investigate the local natural radioactivity (in soils, water and indoors) because of the presence of tuff outcrops (from middle lower Pleistocene volcanic activity) that naturally produce radioactive gas radon at Cerveteri (Rome, Central Italy). The study area is characterized by the presence of several funerary sites pertaining to the Etruscan Necropolis of Cerveteri, which extends over a volcanic rock plateau. The results of the radon survey highlighted moderate (>16000 Bq/m3) but localized anomalies in soils and medium low (< 200 Bq/m3) values of indoor radon excepting some cases exceeding the threshold (> 300 Bq/m3) recommended by 2013/59 Euratom Directive. Although for thoron (220Rn) effects on human health, there exist no clinical data, the study of 220Rn average activity concentration in the soil gas survey has revealed new insights for the interpretation of radon sources that can affect dwellings, even taking into account the considerable difference in the half-lives of the 222Rn and 220Rn.
Keywords
natural radioactivity; indoor radon; thoron; risk hazard; soil gas radon
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Environmental Science
Copyright:
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