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A study of indoor radon, thoron and their exhalation rates in the environment of Fazilka district, Punjab, India

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Abstract

Over the last few decades, the study of radioactive radon gas has gained huge momentum due to its possible role in health related hazards. In the present work, pin-hole twin chamber single entrance dosimeters have been used for track measurements of radon and thoron. The annual average radon concentration varies from 50.3 to 204 Bq/m3 at all locations. Almost all the values are below the safe range provided by ICRP. Radon concentration is found to be higher in winter as compared to other seasons. Variation of radon with quality of dwellings is also discussed. The values of annual effective dose due to radon and thoron are also well within the range provided by ICRP and WHO. Radon and thoron exhalation rates are measured using SMART RnDuo monitor. The radon mass exhalation rates ranged from 11 to 71 mBq/kg/h while the thoron surface values ranged from 36 to 2048 Bq/m2/h. All the values are on the lower side. A weak correlation is found between radon and thoron concentrations and their exhalation rates. When compared with the values of other parts of northern India, the values of present investigation are on higher side.

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Acknowledgements

The authors highly acknowledge the assistance provided by the residents of the studied villages during the collection of the water and soil samples. The authors also express their gratitude towards D.A.V. College, Amritsar for providing experimental facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Sciences, Guru Kashi University, Talwandi Sabo, Punjab, India

    Saurabh Narang & Deepak Kumar

  2. Department of Physics, Govt. College Nurpur, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India

    Dinesh Kumar Sharma

  3. Department of Physics, D.A.V College, Amritsar, Punjab, India

    Saurabh Narang & Ajay Kumar

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  1. Saurabh Narang
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  2. Deepak Kumar
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  3. Dinesh Kumar Sharma
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  4. Ajay Kumar
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Correspondence to Ajay Kumar.

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Narang, S., Kumar, D., Sharma, D.K. et al. A study of indoor radon, thoron and their exhalation rates in the environment of Fazilka district, Punjab, India. Acta Geophys. 66, 1233–1241 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11600-018-0114-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11600-018-0114-5

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