Radon Pollution Control

  • Ali Gökmen
  • İnci G. Gökmen
  • Yung-Tse Hung
Chapter
Part of the Handbook of Environmental Engineering book series (HEE, volume 2)

Abstract

Human beings are exposed to two sources of radiation in the environment: natural and man-made. Natural sources include radioactive radon, radioisotopes with a long half-life, such as potassium in the body, cosmic rays (energetic γ-rays and particles from the sun and interstellar space), and some rocks. Various sources of artificial radiation include medical X-rays, nuclear medicine for cancer treatment, and some consumer products containing radioisotopes. Natural sources of radiation account for 82% of total exposure for humans. A common radioactive element is radium, one of whose decay products, radon, poses health concerns. Radon emanates from rock, soil, and underground water as a gas. In the solar system, various radioisotopes of radon gas form from decay of radioactive uranium and thorium elements found naturally. The contributing effects from natural and man-made radiation sources on human beings is shown in Fig. 1.

Keywords

Radon Concentration Indoor Radon Radon Level Radon Exposure Lung Cancer Death 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ 2005

Authors and Affiliations

  • Ali Gökmen
    • 1
  • İnci G. Gökmen
    • 1
  • Yung-Tse Hung
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of ChemistryMiddle East Technical UniversityAnkaraTurkey
  2. 2.Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringCleveland State UniversityCleveland

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