A survey of indoor radon in songkla province.

ABSTRACT

A study of indoor radon was carried out on 1,052 different buildings in Songkla Province, Thai-land, using an activated charcoal canister for sample collection and a gamma spectrometer for analysis of the samples. The survey revealed the presence of radon gas inside all the buildings investigated, varying in concen-tration from 2.14 to 86.10 Bequerels/cubic metre (16.15 + 11.97 Bq.m-3). Although the levels of radon encoun-tered were well below the safety threshold of 148 Bq.m-3 established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a trend was detected suggesting that high levels within the normal range are prevalent in certain areas of the province. The phenomenon will be investigated in the next setting. With regard to the type, age and ventilation status of the buildings, and the practice of smoking indoors, the findings of this investigation do not conclusively support the notion of their contributing to, or being mutually associated with, indoor gaseous concentrations of radon.