A 10-year follow-up of yearly indoor radon measurements in homes, review of other studies and implications on lung cancer risk estimates

Uncertainty on long-term average radon concentration has a large impact on lung cancer risk assessment in epidemiological studies. The uncertainty can be estimated by year-to-year radon concentration variability, however few data are available. In Italy a study has been planned and conducted to evaluate year-to-year radon variability over several years in normally inhabited dwellings, mainly located in Rome. This is the longest study of this kind in Europe; repeat radon measurements are carried out for 10 years using LR-115 radon detectors in the same home in consecutive years. The study includes 84 dwellings with long-term average radon concentration ranging from 28 to 636 Bq/m3. The result shows that year-to-year variability of repeated measurements made in the same home in different years is low, with an overall coefficient of variation of 17%. This is smaller than most of those observed in studies from other European countries and USA, ranging from 15% to 62%. Influencing factors that may explain the differences between this study and other studies have been discussed. Due to the low yearly variability estimated in the present 10-year study, a negligible impact on lung cancer risk estimate for the Italian epidemiologica

Radiological Protection in Industries Involving NORM: A (Graded) Methodological Approach to Characterize the Exposure Situations

The interest in radiation protection in industrial sectors involving Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) is increasingly growing. This is due also to the recent implementation of the European Council Directive 59/2013/Euratom which in Italy and in the other European Union Member States extends the field of application to industrial sectors never involved before. This paper reports main results of a research project on radiation protection in industries involving NORM carried out in Italy aimed to provide useful tools for stakeholders to comply new legal obligations. The project activities were mainly focused on different aspects relevant to the NORM involving industries, accounting for the positive list reported in the Italian law. Firstly, the inventory of the industries currently operating in Italy in order to identify the industrial sectors with an important radiological impact on population and workers was updated. Based on this information, a general methodology was elaborated taking into account a graded approach. The first phase consists in the identification and characterization of the most critical exposure scenarios and of the radiological content of NORMs involved in the different phases of the industrial processes. In the second phase calculation methods were developed for dose estimation for workers and members of public. These tools require the use of existing and well tested calculation codes, and the development of a dedicated user-friendly software

La radioprotezione applicata alle industrie NORM: sviluppo di un sistema di strumenti metodologici, conoscitivi e formativi a sostegno degli stakeholders. Stato dell’arte del progetto di INAIL

Con il recepimento della Direttiva Europea 59/2013 EURATOM, la normativa italiana di radioprotezione ha introdotto nuovi obblighi per gli esercenti di diversi settori industriali “NORM”. Per sostenere l’assolvimento di tali obblighi che garantiscono la protezione di lavoratori e popolazione, dal 2019 è in corso un progetto di ricerca, nell’ambito del quale sono state realizzate diverse attività. Alcune di esse hanno avuto sviluppi anche in ambito internazionale, a testimonianza di quanto questa tematica sia di grande interesse. Lo scopo del presente lavoro è presentare i nuovi risultati del progetto, dall’aggiornamento del censimento dei settori NORM attualmente attivi in Italia, all’ applicazione e declinazione dell’approccio graduale per l’individuazione di situazioni di particolare interesse dal punto di vista della radioprotezione, fino allo sviluppo di metodologie operative e di calcolo applicate ad alcuni settori

Sviluppo di protocolli di campionamento e di valutazione della dose per settori industriali con presenza di NORM

Nell’ambito delle attività del progetto INAIL - BRIC ID 30 “Protocolli operativi e metodologie di calcolo per l’attuazione della nuova normativa di radioprotezione, recepimento della Direttiva 59/2013/Euratom, in settori industriali NORM di particolare impatto radiologico”, è stato sviluppato un approccio metodologico per gli adempimenti previsti dall’art. 22 del D.lgs. 101/2020. Una proposta di protocollo per la misura della concentrazione di attività delle matrici e per la valutazione della dose efficace per lavoratori e popolazione è stata elaborata per il settore della produzione di cemento e per l’industria dello zircone e zirconio

European Atlas of Natural Radiation

Natural ionizing radiation is considered as the largest contributor to the collective effective dose received by the world population. The human population is continuously exposed to ionizing radiation from several natural sources that can be classified into two broad categories: high-energy cosmic rays incident on the Earth’s atmosphere and releasing secondary radiation (cosmic contribution); and radioactive nuclides generated during the formation of the Earth and still present in the Earth’s crust (terrestrial contribution). Terrestrial radioactivity is mostly produced by the uranium and thorium radioactive families together with potassium. In most circumstances, radon, a noble gas produced in the radioactive decay of uranium, is the most important contributor to the total dose. This Atlas aims to present the current state of knowledge of natural radioactivity, by giving general background information, and describing its various sources. This reference material is complemented by a collection of maps of Europe displaying the levels of natural radioactivity caused by different sources. It is a compilation of contributions and reviews received from more than 80 experts in their field: they come from universities, research centres, national and European authorities and international organizations. This Atlas provides reference material and makes harmonized datasets available to the scientific community and national competent authorities. In parallel, this Atlas may serve as a tool for the public to: • familiarize itself with natural radioactivity; • be informed about the levels of natural radioactivity caused by different sources; • have a more balanced view of the annual dose received by the world population, to which natural radioactivity is the largest contributor; • and make direct comparisons between doses from natural sources of ionizing radiation and those from man-made (artificial) ones, hence to better understand the latter.JRC.G.10-Knowledge for Nuclear Security and Safet

A radon facility at Naples University: Features and first tests

A radon calibration facility was developed at Naples University (Italy). It consists of an exposure chamber, a radon reference monitor and an apparatus suitable for radon circulation and air climatic control. The parameters that are possible to change and control are carrier gas, radon activity, gas pressure, temperature, and humidity. The characterization of the facility is actually underway to verify its reliability and stability with respect to various parameters of interes

A radon facility at Naples University: Features and first tests

A radon calibration facility was developed at Naples University (Italy). It consists of an exposure chamber, a radon reference monitor and an apparatus suitable for radon circulation and air climatic control. The parameters that are possible to change and control are carrier gas, radon activity, gas pressure, temperature, and humidity. The characterization of the facility is actually underway to verify its reliability and stability with respect to various parameters of interes

Evaluation of the radiological impact of building materials containing NORM residues

In the last decade, the authors carried out studies to evaluate the building material contribution as source of gamma radiation. In this frame, a European database containing data on more than 23,000 samples of structural and superficial building materials, used in 26 Member States and 4 non-EU countries, was created. Here updated information about natural radionuclide content of NORM residues, used in standard building materials or as they are, are presented

Estimating the relation between radon concentrations in dwellings and schools; on the example of data from the Balkan region, South East Europe

Given its relevance as hazard to human health, today almost unanimously accepted, indoor Rn is increasingly subject to regulation with the purpose of reducing the risk. While so far, investigations were mostly focused on domestic indoor Rn, attention has been extended to working environments, as people spend good (or bad) part of their life in offices, schools, shops, factories and other workplaces. In the recently issued European Basic Safety Standards (BSS 2014) the same maximum reference levels for indoor Rn concentration, long-term mean 300 Bq/m³, were therefore set for dwellings and workplaces. Many national and regional indoor surveys exist for dwellings, but only a few for schools and kindergartens and little for other workplaces. In particular schools are given increasing attention because they are workplaces for students and teachers alike, and avoiding unnecessary risk to children is naturally seen as an especially important objective. It must be assumed that buildings on top of a ground with the same radon potential, but with different building characteristics and usage patterns, as is typically the case for dwellings and schools, have systematically different indoor Rn concentrations. Although this is well accepted, little is known about how these differences can be quantified, and what their extent is. We show on indoor Rn datasets of schools and dwellings from several regions in South-East Europe how such relations can be estimated and give results. These can be used for identifying regions in which one may decide to allocate resources preferentially for intensified surveys or mitigation or remediation activity, specifically targeted to a type of indoor environment