Measurements of indoor radon concentration levels in Kilis,Osmaniye and Antakya, Turkey during spring season

Bayram Can • Cumhur Canbazoglu •

Nesli Albayrak • Nilgun Celebi • Mahmut Dogru

Received: 10 November 2011 / Published online: 4 December 2011

� Akademiai Kiado, Budapest, Hungary 2011

Abstract The fact that 50% of the natural radiation dose

to which humans are exposed is caused by radon gas makes

indoor radon measurements important. In this study, levels

of indoor radon gas were measured in 204 houses in Kilis,

Osmaniye and Antakya using passive nuclear track detec-

tors. Cr-39 radon detectors were left in the living rooms of

participants’ houses, then analyzed at the Radon Labora-

tory of Health Physics Department in Cekmece Nuclear

Research and Training Center (CANEM) of Atomic

Energy Agency of Turkey (TAEK). Average indoor radon

activity concentrations for Kilis, Osmaniye and Antakya

were 50 Bq/m3 (1.26 mSv/y), 51 Bq/m3 (1.29 mSv/y) and

40 Bq/m3 (1.01 mSv/y), respectively.

Keywords Cr-39 � Indoor radon � Effective dose �Chemical etching

Introduction

Radon is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless noble gas. It has

three isotopes with natural origin as 222Rn, 220Rn and 219Rn,

which have half-lives of 3.82 days, 55.6 s and 3.96 s,

respectively. Atmospheric radioactivity at sea level gener-

ally occurs as a result of 220Rn, 222Rn and their decays. The

main source of radon in air is the decay products of uranium

in soil and rocks. Therefore, studies of radon densities are

conducted in air, houses, soil, water and structural materials.

The density of radon gas in open areas is rather low, due

to the constant air circulation. However, this differs in

enclosed areas, as the air circulation is significantly low,

especially in winter months, and therefore the radon level

is high. People generally spend most of their times in

indoor areas, and therefore measurement of indoor radon

level is very important. Indoor radon levels depend directly

on the level of natural uranium deposit in soil and rocks

beneath the building, the radium level in the structural

materials of the building, the water used in the building, the

ventilation of the building and the season [1].

Annual effective dose to which humans are exposed due

to natural radiations is 2.4 mSv, of which 1.4 mSv is

caused by radon, thoron and their decay products [2].

Deposition of radon in enclosed areas may pose a risk to

human health. In enclosed areas, radon and its products are

attached to dust particles and enter the lungs by inhalation,

where the alpha particles they produce damage lung tissues

by irradiation. Some of the inhaled radon is carried to other

parts of the body by dissolving in lung fluid and may cause

cancer by damaging some critical cells. Several studies

have examined the radon concentrations due to radon’s

effect on health [3–11]. The aim of this study is to deter-

mine the indoor radon concentration levels in Kilis,

Osmaniye and Antakya and to determine the annual

B. Can � C. Canbazoglu

Department of Physics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences,

Kilis 7 Aralık University, 79000 Kilis, Turkey

N. Albayrak � N. Celebi

TAEK, Cekmece Nuclear Research and Training Centre,

Altınsehir Yolu, 5 km, Halkalı, 34303 Istanbul, Turkey

M. Dogru

Department of Physics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences,

Bitlis Eren University, 13000 Bitlis, Turkey

M. Dogru (&)

Department of Physics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Firat

University, 23169 Elazig, Turkey

e-mail: mdogru@firat.edu.tr; dogrum@gmail.com

123

J Radioanal Nucl Chem (2012) 292:1059–1063

DOI 10.1007/s10967-011-1559-z

effective dose that humans are exposed to due to radon.

The importance of this study is increased because radon

measurement has not been conducted previously in this

settlement area.

Study area

Kilis, which is in south-eastern Anatolian region of Turkey,

is located between 36�500 and 37�560 east longitudes and

36�380 and 37�320 north latitudes (Fig. 1). Its population is

123,135 and it is divided into four administrative regions.

Seventy percent (85,923) of the population lives in urban

areas and 30% (37,212) in rural areas. Its surface area is

1,420 km2. Kilis has a Mediterranean climate, with an

annual temperature of approximately 16.8 �C and general

annual precipitation is 515 mm.

Osmaniye is located in the south of Turkey, between

37�000–37�080N latitudes and 36�130–36�200E longitudes

(Fig. 1). It covers a surface area of 3,310 km2 and it is

divided into seven administrative regions. Its elevation

above sea level is 118 m. The total population of the

province is 479,221, of which 346,707 (72%) live in urban

areas and 132,514 (28%) live in rural areas. Osmaniye

province has characteristics typical of a Mediterranean

climate, defined as hot and arid in summer and warm and

rainy in winter with high humidity [12].

Antakya is the central district of Hatay province. It is

located between 36�060–36�400N latitudes and 36�020–36�390E longitudes (Fig. 1). Its population is 461,477 and

the surface area is 830 km2. It has Mediterranean climate,

generally having hot ad arid summer and warm and rainy

winter seasons. Average annual precipitation ranges

between 570 and 1,160 mm [13].

Type of houses

Most houses in study area are apartments and detached

houses. These types of houses are constructed of brick and

briquette walls and generally have a concrete floor and

ceiling. The bricks are mainly produced from natural clay,

which is compressed in combination with materials such as

pebble stones, broken stones or sand. Bricks and briquettes

used in these types of houses are covered with a mixture of

sand, cement and water rendering. These materials are

expected to contribute much more into indoor radon gas

concentrations.

Fig. 1 Map of Turkey showing

the study area

1060 B. Can et al.

123

Materials and methods

A Radosys radon measurement system (Radosys Co., Ltd.)

was used for analysis. This system consists of three main

sections, a ‘Radosys-RSF’ type radon dosimeter with Cr-39

nuclear track detector, a ‘radobath’ bath unit, where

chemical etching of these detectors occurs, and a com-

puter- aided ‘radometer 2000’, all of which were produced

by the company. The ‘Radosys-RSF’ type radon dosimeter

has a screw cap and is 35 9 55 mm with cylindrical

geometry, and is made from polypropylene. It is appro-

priate for use as an indoor dosimeter. The area of the Cr-39

detector is 1 cm2 and it is attached under the screw cap.

The detectors were supplied by the Health Physics

Department of the Cekmece Nuclear Research and Train-

ing Center (CANEM) of Atomic Energy Agency of Turkey

(TAEK). A total 204 of houses were examined in Kilis,

Osmaniye and Antakya provinces. Detectors were installed

1 m above floor-level away from doors and windows in the

most commonly used room of the house and left there for

2 months. Detectors were then collected in aluminum folio

coverage and transferred to the CNAEM health physics

radon laboratory for analyses. Detectors were chemically

etched in a 4 M NaOH solution bath unit at 60 �C for 4 h.

After chemical etching, detectors were removed from the

solution and washed with water. In order to remove

chemical residues, the detectors were then left in a smaller

ultrasonic bath with distilled water. After a drying period

of 1 h, detectors were put into a ‘radometer 2000’ evalu-

ation unit to count the number tracks on them. The track

densities on detectors were determined automatically by a

system with 5009 microscope and their radon activity

concentrations were calculated.

Results and discussion

Indoor radon concentration levels and their annual effec-

tive dose values for Kilis, Osmaniye and Antakya are given

in Table 1. As can be seen in Table 1, indoor radon con-

centration levels for Kilis, Osmaniye and Antakya are

5–171, 6–209 and 4–135 Bq/m3, respectively. Average

radon concentration for Kilis, Osmaniye and Antakya were

calculated as 50, 51 and 40 Bq/m3, respectively. The radon

concentrations in Kilis and Osmaniye are above global

average radon concentration (40.3 Bq/m3) while that for

Antakya is slightly below the global average [14]. Average

annual effective dose values for Kilis, Osmaniye and

Table 1 Indoor 222Rn activity concentrations and comparison with different parts of the Turkey

District Number

of houses

Min. Max. 222Rn activity

concentrations (Bq/m3)

Effective

dose (mSv/y)

References

Kilis 62 5 171 50 1.26 Present study

Osmaniye 70 6 209 51 1.29 Present study

Antakya 72 4 135 40 1.01 Present study

Manisa 97 (47–146) 4.83 (2.35–7.3) [16]

Kastamonu 98.4 (29–177) 2.48 (0.73–4.46) [17]

Giresun 130 (52–360) 3 [18]

Tekirdag 87 2.01 [19]

Batman 84 (23–145) [20]

Karabuk 131.6 3.32 [21]

Istanbul 10–260 0.5–13 [22]

The ranges corresponding to data are given in parentheses

Fig. 2 Frequency distribution of the indoor radon concentration in

KilisFig. 3 Frequency distribution of the indoor radon concentration in

Osmaniye

Measurements of indoor radon concentration levels 1061

123

Antakya are 1.26, 1.29 and 1.01 mSv/y, respectively.

When determining the annual effective dose, a dose con-

version factor of 9 (nSv/h)/(Bq/m3) was used, occupancy

factor was 0.8 and equilibrium factor was 0.4. The values

recorded for Kilis and Osmaniye are higher than the global

average (1.094 mSv/y), but they are lower in Antakya [15].

Indoor radon concentrations for Kilis, Osmaniye and Ant-

akya are lower than the radon concentrations of other

provinces of Turkey; however, radon distributions are not

significantly different between the study sites and other

provinces of Turkey.

The distribution of indoor radon levels among 62 houses

in Kilis is shown in Fig. 2. Radon concentrations in 69% of

the houses are lower than 61 Bq/m3, 26% of them range

between 61 and 120 Bq/m3 and 5% of them range between

150 and 180 Bq/m3. The distribution for Osmaniye prov-

ince is shown in Fig. 3. The radon concentrations of 63%

of the houses (70 houses in total) in Osmaniye are lower

than 51 Bq/m3, 30% of them range between 51 and

100 Bq/m3, and 7% of them range between 130 and

210 Bq/m3. The distribution of 72 houses in Antakya is

shown in the graph in Fig. 4. The indoor radon concen-

trations of 82% of the houses are lower than 61 Bq/m3. The

remaining 18% presents an almost homogenous distribu-

tion, ranging between 61 and 140 Bq/m3.

Conclusion

In this study, indoor radon concentration level for Kilis,

Osmaniye and Antakya were determined in a total of 204

houses. Average indoor radon concentrations are above the

global average (40.3 Bq/m3) for Kilis and Osmaniye and

slightly below the global average for Antakya. Average

annual effective doses are higher than the global average

(1.094 mSv/y) for Kilis and Osmaniye, and lower than the

global average for Antakya. No significant difference was

found when the results of the study were compared with the

data acquired from other provinces of Turkey.

Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge the assistance of the

Cekmece (Istanbul) Nuclear Research and Training Center in ana-

lyzing the radon levels.

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