Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (한국산업보건학회지)

Korean Industrial Hygiene Association (한국산업보건학회)
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Evaluation for Effectiveness of Radon Mitigation on Dwellings and Public Buildings in Korea

건축물 유형에 따른 라돈 저감 효과 평가

  • Lee, DongHyun (Institute of Technology for Environmental Health and Safety) ;
  • Ryu, Seung-Hun (Graduate School of Public Health, Korea University) ;
  • Jo, JungHeum (Department of Public Health Science, College of Health Science, Korea University) ;
  • Seo, SungChul (Institute of Allergy and Immunology, College of Medicine, Korea University)
  • 이동현 (EHS 기술연구소) ;
  • 류승훈 (고려대학교 보건대학원) ;
  • 조정흠 (고려대학교 보건과학대학 보건과학과) ;
  • 서성철 (고려대학교 의과대학 알레르기면역연구소)
  • Received : 2014.08.19
  • Accepted : 2014.12.27
  • Published : 2014.12.31
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Abstract

Objectives: The adverse health effects attributed to exposure to radon have been well known over the world. However, the efforts for prevention and mitigation of radon have not been taken in Korea so far. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation methods applied for various types of houses and public buildings with high level of radon. Methods: Based on the results of "National Radon Survey" performed by the National Institute of Environmental Research(NIER) in 2010-2012, we selected 30 candidate buildings consisting of 20 houses and 10 public buildings with greater than $148Bq/m^3$ of radon level. We measured the concentration of radon in 30 buildings, using E-PERMs and RAD-7 during January to March of 2013. More than five E-PERMs and one RAD-7 per house were installed for seven days. Ten houses and five public buildings were finally chosen to be mitigated after mainly considering the level of radon and the location of buildings nationwide. Three mitigation methods such as Sealing, two types of Active Ventilation(window-shaped and wall-typed ventilations), and Active Soil Depressurization(ASD) were applied, and the concentrations of radon were measured before and after mitigation, respectively. To evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation methods, reduction rates of radon were calculated and Wilcoxon's signed-rank test was performed. Results: The mean concentration of 15 buildings just before radon mitigation was $297.8Bq/m^3$, and most of the buildings were located in Gangwon, Chungbuk, Chungnam, and Daegu areas(73.3%), and built in 1959-1998. The level of radon decreased from 48% to 90% and kept the below recommendation limit of $148Bq/m^3$ after installation of radon mitigation. Among mitigation methods applied, the reduction rate(58.7-90.4%) of radon attributed to ASD was the greatest than that of other methods, followed by Active Ventilation(48.4-78.4%) and Sealing(<22%). The effectiveness of radon reduction by window-shaped Active Ventilation(63.2-75.2%) was relatively better than that of wall-typed Active Ventilation(48.4-54.3%). Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that ASD could be more effective for radon mitigation. Moreover, our findings would be background information in future for making the strategy for radon mitigation nationwide, as well as for developing Korean-version of mitigation techniques according to types of dwellings in Korea.

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