Re: need info fast!

["Otto G. Raabe" <ograabe@ucdavis.edu>]

At 02:39 AM 3/6/99 -0600, Tom wrote:
>Information put out in rad safety courses at hanford and WPPSS say the annual
>dose to Spokane residents is approximately 1400mrem/yr with 1200-1300 due to
>radon.  I'm told the soil there contains mineable quantities of uranium and
>Spokane lies in a valley which tends to retain/contain the gas.
>
March 7, 1999
Davis, CA

Dear Tom:

The average dose to the respiratory surface of the lung of average people
from the decay products of radon in the United States is about 2,400
mrem/yr (see BEIR V, page 18), but most of that comes from indoor
exposures. A value of 1,200-1,300 mrem/yr for Spokane would be well below
the national average if it is the dose to lung surfaces and if it is
correct. If you think of the risk to the lung surfaces as representing
about 8% of the total body, this translates to an "effective" dose of about
200 mrem/year for the national average or about 100 mrem/year for radon
decay products in Spokane if that value is actually a lung dose. To this
you must add about 160 mrem/year whole body exposures to other natural
radiation sources, medical and dental exposures, and other typical
background exposures. The overall national average total effective dose is
therefore about 360 mrem/year or about 1 mrem/day.

The Rocky Mountain States tend to have the highest radon decay product
exposures with respiratory tract exposures up to four times the national
average. This could result is yearly effective doses as high as about 900
mrem/year in Colorado, for example. An effective dose of 1,200-1,300
mrem/year for Spokane would be surprisingly higher that the national average.

Otto
		*****************************************************
		Prof. Otto G. Raabe, Ph.D., CHP
              Institute of Toxicology & Environmental Health (ITEH)
		   (Street address: Building 3792, Old Davis Road)
		University of California, Davis, CA 95616
		Phone: 530-752-7754  FAX: 530-758-6140
		E-mail ograabe@ucdavis.edu
              *****************************************************
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