[ RadSafe ] Radon pCi/l to mRem/hr

[Otto G. Raabe]

At 08:43 AM 4/6/2007, Bernard L. Cohen wrote:
>Very roughly, a person living in a house with radon level of 
>1.3  pCi/L (the U.S. average) gets a whole body equivalent dose of 
>about 200 mrem/year according to NCRP, about 100 mrem/year according 
>to UNSCEAR, and about 70 mrem/year according to ICRP. These numbers 
>are about 15 years old, so things may have changed. Naomi Harley of 
>NYU is the expert on this..
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All of these doses could be correct depending on the concentration 
and size distribution of the indoor airborne particles and the state 
of equilibrium of the radon decay products. About 96% of the 
bronchial alpha radiation dose comes from polonium-214 and 
polonium-218. Only about 4% of the dose is from radon.

Otto


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Prof. Otto G. Raabe, Ph.D., CHP
Center for Health & the Environment
University of California
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616
E-Mail: ograabe at ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-7754   FAX: (530) 758-6140
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