• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.505-529
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• 2022

Radon is a radioactive gas that causes lung cancer deaths. The contingent valuation method (CVM) is used to estimate the value of a statistical life(VSL) of 2.054 billion won for the death due to residential radon in Korea. Residential radon is assumed to have caused 2,330 deaths in 2020, of which the estimated social cost is 4.78 trillion won. When a national compulsory standard of 200Bq/m³ is set for residential radon concentration, the number of lives saved is estimated to be 691, leading to a social benefit of 1.42 billion won. This study reports the origin, characteristics and health risk of residential radon, and emphasizes the importance of a dramatic increase in the budget for residential radon reduction policies.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.82-96
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• 2019

Objective: The aims of this study were to provide the basic data for establishing a precautionary management policy and to develop a methodology for selecting a radon management priority target area suitable for the Korean domestic environment. Methods: A suitable mapping method for the domestic environment was derived by conducting a quantitative comparison of predicted values and measured values that were calculated through implementation of two models such as IDW and RBF methods. And a qualitative comparison including the clarity of information transmission of the written radon map was carried out. Results: The predicted and measured values were obtained through the implementation of the spatial analysis models. The IDW method showed the lowest in the calculated mean square error and had a higher correlation coefficient than the other methods. As results of comparing the uncertainty using the jackknife concept and the concept of error distance for comparison of the differences according to the model interpolation method, the sum of the error distances showed a modest increase compared with the RBF method. As a result of qualitatively comparing the information transfer clarity between the radon maps prepared with the predicted values through the model implementation, it was found that the maps plotted using the predicted values by the implementation of the IDW method had greater clarity in terms of highness and lowness of radon concentration per area compared with the maps plotted by other methods. Conclusions: The radon management priority area suggests selecting a metropolitan city including an area with a high radon concentration.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2459-2465
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• 2012

Background: Numbers of epidemiological studies assessing residential radon exposure and risk of lung cancer have yielded inconsistent results. Methods: We therefore performed a meta-analysis of relevant published case-control studies searched in the PubMed database through July 2011 to examine the association. The combined odds ratio (OR) were calculated using fixed- or random-effects models. Subgroup and dose-response analyses were also performed. Results: We identified 22 case-control studies of residential radon and lung cancer risk involving 13,380 cases and 21,102 controls. The combined OR of lung cancer for the highest with the lowest exposure was 1.29 (95% CI 1.10-1.51). Dose-response analysis showed that every 100 Bq/$m^3$ increment in residential radon exposure was associated with a significant 7% increase in lung cancer risk. Subgroup analysis displayed a more pronounced association in the studies conducted in Europe. Studies restricted to female or non-smokers demonstrated weakened associations between exposure and lung cancer. Conclusions: This meta-analysis provides new evidence supporting the conclusion that residential exposure to radon can significantly increase the risk of lung cancer in a dose-response manner.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.189-214
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• 2000

Three study areas of Kwanak campus(Seoul National University), Gapyung and Boeun were selected and classified according to bedrock types in order to investigate soil-gas radon concentrations. Several soil-gas samples showed relatively high radon concentrations in the residual soils which derived from granite bedrock. It also showed that water content of soil and the degree of radioactivity disequilibrium was a secondary factor governing radon emanation and distribution of radon radioactivity. The results of radon concentrations and working levels for forty rooms in Kwanak campus, Seoul National University, showed that indoor basement rooms under poor ventilation condition can be classified as high radon risk zone having more than EPA guideline(4 pCi/L). Some results of section analysis which was surveyed in the fault zone of Kyungju and Gapyung area confirmed the existence of fault-associated radon anomalies with a meaning of radon risk zone.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.285-298
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• 2002

In Korea, no CRA (comparative risk analysis) studies have been undertaken, nor have their methodologies of such studies been established. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to establish the framework of CRA consisting of health risk, economic risk and perceived risk, and to estimate and compare these risks among the three environmental problems of air pollution, indoor air pollution and drinking water contamination, which are themselves subject to the eight sub -problems of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), regulated pollutants (representative as PM 10) and dioxins (PCDDs/PCDFs) in air pollution, indoor air pollutants (IAPs) and radon in indoor air pollution, and drinking water pollutants (DWPs), disinfection by -products (DBPs) and radionuclides in drinking water contamination in Seoul, Korea. After which, the priorities of these problems were set by individual and integrated risk. From the results, the rankings of both health risk and economical risk were in the following order: radon, PM10, IAPs, HAPs, DWPs, dioxins, DBPs, and radionuclides among the eight sub problems. On the contrary, the ranking of perceived risk was in the following order: HAPs, dioxins, radionuclides, PM10, DWPs, IAPs, Radon and then DBPs among the eight sub-problems.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2017.11a
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• pp.111-112
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• 2017

Radon has been considered the greatest source of exposure within the total radiation exposure of the human body. xposure from radon, which exists in indoor air quality, lacks public perception, Radon, which exists anywhere on earth, is not regarded as a state of attention even if it is above the average level. Indoor radon exposure situations are not intentionally introduced, and essentially the attention and responsibilities of radon exposures are assumed to be in indoor occupants. So, these are caused by common uranium and thorium scattering on Earth, and are brought into the building by fine cracks or exposed indicators of the buildings. Therefore, this study aims to reduce the risk of radon rays and reduce radon, which induces diseases caused by breathing in the body of indoor air pollutants and emitting diseases by emitting alpha rays from the radon gas.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2019.11a
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• pp.160-161
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• 2019

Recently, a bed company's product has detected a certain level of radon or higher, making it a popular search word on portal sites. Because of this problem, people are becoming more interested in radon. The government plans to support the establishment of a radon alert system for households through a radon concentration survey of 10,000 households. The use of palm charcoal as an indoor finishing material will reduce the risk of lung cancer through radon reduction. The experiment used a method of replacing palm activated carbon with blast furnace slag, and the adsorption performance of radon tends to increase as the replacement rate of palm activated carbon increases.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.1289-1296
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• 2020

The estimation of radioactivity level is vital for population health risk assessment and geological point of view and can be evaluated as rate of exhalation and source concentration (²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K). The present study deals with the soil samples for investigation of radionuclides content and exhalation rates of radon -thoron gas from different sites in northern Haryana, India. Absorbed dose and associated index estimated in the present study are the measures of environmental radioactivity to inhalation dose. Effective doses received by different tissues and organs by considering different occupancy and conditions are also measured. Exhalation rates of radon and thoron are measured with active scintillation monitors based on alpha spectroscopy namely scintillation radon (SRM) and thoron (STM) monitors respectively. Sample height was optimized before measurement of thoron exhalation rate using STM. Average values of radon and thoron exhalation are found 16.6 ± 0.7 mBqkg^-1h^-1 and 132.1 ± 2.6 mBqm^-2s^-1 respectively. Also, a simple approach was also adopted, to evaluate the thoron exhalation which accomplished a lot of challenges, the results are compared with the data obtained experimentally. The study is useful in the nationwide mapping of radon and thoron exhalation rates for understanding the environmental radioactivity status.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.33-40
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• 2017

Identification of radon in soil provides information on the areas at risk for high radon exposure. In this study, we measured uranium-238 and radon-222 concentrations in soil to assess their approximate levels in Seoul. A total of 246 soil samples were taken to analyze uranium with ICP-MS, and 120 measurements of radon in soil were conducted with an in-situ radon detector, Rad7 at a depth of 1-1.5 m. The data were statistically analyzed and mapped, layered with geological classification. The range of uranium in soil was from 0.0 to 8.5 mg/kg with a mean value of 2.2 mg/kg, and the range of radon in soil was from 1,887 to $87,320Bq/m^3$ with a mean value of $18,271Bq/m^3$. The geology had a distinctive relationship to the uranium and radon levels in soil, with the uranium and radon concentrations in soils overlying granite more than double those of soils overlying metamorphic rocks.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.203-212
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• 2019

Objective: A total of five students at same middle school were reported to be diagnosed with pediatric leukemia (n=2), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL, n=1) and aplastic anemia (n=2) between 2016 and 2017. The aims of this study are to assess exposure to environmental hazardous agents known to be associated with the risk of leukemia and to examine whether the environment of school is associated with the risk leukemia. Method: A total of 11 environmental agents causing childhood leukemia were monitored using international certified method in schools where patients had ever attended. Radon & Thoron detector was used to monitor real-time airborne radon and thoron level ($Bq/m^3$). Clinician interviewed two among nine patients who agreed to participate in this study in order to examine the association of demographic and genetic factors by individually. Leukemia, NHL, and aplastic anemia were grouped into lymphohematopoietic disorder (LHP). Results: Except for airborne radon level, no environmental agents in school and household where patients may be exposed were found to higher than recommended airborne level. Clinical investigation found no individual factors that may be associated with the risk of LHP. Higher airborne radon level than Korea EPA's airborne radon criteria ($148Bq/m^3$) was monitored at most of several after-class room of one elementary school, where two leukemia patients graduated. Significant radon level was not monitored at class-room. Significant exposure to radon of patients was not estimated based on time-activity pattern. Conclusions: Our results have concluded that there have been no environmental factors in school and household environment that may be associated the risk of LHP.