Current study guides Seven to ten percent of annual deaths due to behind bars on radon back. To make matters worse, in addition to radon itself, other harmful substances such as different types of plasticizers and solvents can affect the room climate of more modern houses. Still unexplained interactions between the pollutants require accurate observation or require preventive construction actions.
Was radon and How to Check For Radon?
Radon is a radioactive, colorless and odorless noble gas. It emerges from the decay of radium, an intermediate of radioactive uranium. From radium-226 Radon-222 (Radon) is formed. Radon Caribbean decays into radioactive heavy metal isotopes of polonium, Wismuts, and lead until the end product eventually produces a solid lead. The rocks and Earths included since their creation the natural radioactive substances uranium and thus like radium, the mother of the radon. The concentrations of these substances in the soil depend on the rock-making processes, the geological storage conditions owls depending on the physical/chemical properties of the radon and therefore in some cases clear differences.
How does it get into the houses?
In the mineral fabric, a certain percentage of the radon enters the pores of the rocks and soils. The air contained in the pores is thus enriched with radon. Typically, radon occurs in the air of the Becquerel in concentrations of several thousand per cubic meter of air (Bq/m3). Radon then spreads within the material towards the Earth's surface and is finally released into the air outdoors and, if necessary, into buildings. If a house is in front of the building ground like only slightly leaking, it acts like a chimney. The Radon-containing bottom air from a radius of about 10 to 20 meters can be sucked in by a low vacuum in the building.
Radon flows from the ground to the living quarters
In the case of high radon concentrations in the soil, there are already low levels of soil air to increase the radon concentration in houses strongly. In Germany, elevated radon concentrations in buildings, apart from exceptional cases, are due to radon from the building ground. Therefore, the highest radon concentrations usually occur in rooms with direct contact to the ground, even in cellars or not in basement rooms. Due to their geology and the measurement results of radon in the ground air, it is now possible to identify areas where elevated radon concentrations can be expected in buildings and, on the other hand, to describe areas where high Probability of the ground as a source of high radon concentrations is not in question. A general warning is not possible for formal low-risk areas.
Which radon concentrations occur in houses?
The average radon concentration in flats in Germany is approximately 50 to 60 Bq/m3. However, it is even housed with a few thousand Bq/m3 in the living quarters. Only ten percent of the existing one-and two-family houses are expected to have radon concentrations above 100 Bq/m3 in standard rooms.
Regular airing reduces the radon concentration
The height of the radon concentration in the houses is influenced not only by the radon intake from various sources but by the exchange of the room air against the outside air, the spatial breakdown of the buildings and the air movement in the house. The meteorological conditions and the temperature distribution in the House play an essential role in this. Because in Germany the radon concentration in the outside air in most areas is only between 5 Bq/m3 and 30 Bq/m3, an increased air exchange causes a reduction of the radon concentration in buildings.
Fluctuations over time are common
The concentration of the radon in buildings is subject to more or less significant temporal fluctuations. Decisive influencing factors are the seasonal and daily weather changes in a selected combination with the individual habits of ventilation and space use. The daily Maxima is usually reached in the late night-until the early morning hours.
Health effects of Radon
Radon and its decay products are absorbed by the person with the breathing air. While the noble gas radon is, for the most part, exhaled again, its decay products are stored in the respiratory tract. The inhaled radon and its decay products cause respiratory damage. Other organs are much less burdened by radon and its decay products according to current knowledge. In some international studies, the relationship between long-term exposure to radon in flats and the appearance of behind bars was forest ecosystems. On this basis, the German Radiation Protection Commission in its studies in April 2005 will come to the following evaluation:
Lung cancer risk with increasing concentration
Summary evaluations These studies in Europe and North America show an apparent increase in the risk of lung cancer with increasing radon concentration. This is related is detectable for life-long non-smokers. A significant increase in risk was detected from a concentration interval of 100-199 Bq/m3. The exposure-effect relationship is almost linear without reference to a threshold value and is bafög 10% per 100 Bq/m3 radon concentration.
