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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Article
Author(s)
Guillermo Espinosa and José-Ignacio Golzarri
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DOI:10.17265/2162-5298/2016.12A.001
Affiliation(s)
Physics Institute, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
ABSTRACT
As it is known, staying for long periods of time in a place with high
concentration of radon is a health hazard. This health risk can be increased into
adulthood, if at infant ages the young people grow inside places with important
indoor radon levels. Causal associations between exposure level and lung cancer
have been demonstrated in epidemiological studies around the world, suggesting
that for younger age children groups, the risk coefficient of lung cancer for
inhaled radon and their daughters is about a factor of 4 on children from
recent born to 10 years old, and 2 for ages between 10 to 20 years old. The aim
of this work is to determine the indoor radon levels where infants, from 3
months to 6 years old, remain long times in child care centers and
kindergartens. Indoor radon (222Rn) concentration levels were
measured in the child care centers and kindergartens of the 16 political
administrative regions, covering 5% of the total in Mexico City. This study was
conducted over a one-year period, divided into four three-month periods
coinciding with the seasons. Nuclear Track Methodology was selected for the
measurements, and a passive close-end-cup-device was designed specifically to
be used in children places. In this study, the results of measurements of
indoor radon concentration in child care centers and kindergartens in Mexico
City are encouraging, finding indoor radon levels between 26 Bq/m3 and 75 Bq/m3 with an average value of 51 Bq/m3. It can be
considered that the indoor radon concentration levels are low in this type of
buildings, due to the benign climate in the city, the architecture design of
the constructions, and the ventilation habits of the population.
KEYWORDS
Indoor radon, radon, nuclear tracks, kindergartens.
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