scholarly journals Radon-222 Exposure and Dose Concentration Levels in Jordanian Dwellings

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Akeel T. Al-Kazwini ◽  
Mohannad M. Al-Arnaout ◽  
Tiba R. Abdulkareem

Exposure to high concentrations of radon gas is the leading cause of lung cancer for nonsmokers according to the World Health Organization (WHO) figures. With poor ventilation standards and lack of awareness among Jordanians, constant monitoring of radon concentrations is vital. Multiple efforts have been made since the 1990s in order to create a national radon map of Jordan, by acquiring average values of radon concentrations in major Jordanian cities. This study aims to replicate those efforts using a more accurate and modern way of detection for the purpose of comparing the current values with literature values and to update the previous radon concentration map of Jordan. The study concludes that radon concentrations in Jordan have mostly increased in the past 30 years from an overall average of 52 Bq/m3 to an average of 60.4 Bq/m3. Despite the increase, these results are considered under the threat line that is estimated conventionally by most of the international environmental and radiation-related organizations, which is 100–300 Bq/m3. It should be noted that only the Russeifa city has scored a value higher than the estimated threat line. This is due to the existence of abundant phosphate mines filled with condensed radon levels leaking from these ores. It is expected that radon concentrations in Jordan will increase in the coming years with the continuous urban sprawl and lack of public awareness about the radon gas health issue. A number of suggestions have been proposed in this study that could help the Jordanian society avoid a future possible health threat.

Author(s):  
Irene Calvente ◽  
María Isabel Núñez ◽  
Rachid Chahboun Karimi ◽  
Juan Villalba-Moreno

The objective of this pilot study was to gather and analyze data on radon concentrations in workplaces in three buildings of Granada University (Southern Spain) constructed in different centuries. All measurements were made at basement or ground floor level under normal use conditions except for one space (mineral store), in which measurements were compared between the door closed and open. Measurements were conducted during different time periods between October 2013 and March 2019 with a Radon-Scout PLUS portable Radonmonitor. The duration of continuous recordings at different sites ranged between 42 and 1104 h. Mean accumulated radon concentrations ranged between 12 and 95 Bq/m3, below the maximal level of 300 Bq/m3 set by the World Health Organization (WHO). Relatively high values were recorded in the oldest building (15th century), which was also poorly ventilated. Ventilation appeared to be an important factor in reducing radon levels, especially in areas less exposed to radon, such as Southern Spain.


2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Collective WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe established the European Immunization Week (EIW, http://www.euro.who.int/vaccine) in 2005 for three reasons: 1) to raise public awareness of the benefits of immunisation, 2) to support national immunisation systems, and 3) to provide a framework for mobilising public and political support for governmental efforts to protect the public through universal childhood immunisation.


Author(s):  
Carlos Rizo-Maestre ◽  
Víctor Echarri-Iribarren

In December 2019, Spain considered for the first time the presence of radon to the Technical Building Code (Basic Document HS 6: Radon Exposure Protection), although it only mentions minimum presences and the need for ventilation. This research shows that in buried structures or in places with little ventilation, even in soils with a low probability of granite, a high content of radon gas can be found. The city of Alicante has been used as a measurement location for different architectural sites; here, the level of 100 Bq/m3 is the first threshold where the gas must be monitored, and the level of 300 Bq/m3 is the maximum threshold above which corrective ventilation measures must be taken. The research conducted during the years 2015 and 2016 shows that it is necessary to account for also the areas considered to be “low presence of radon gas” to achieve healthy constructions. The renewal of air in the different places will be tested for the presence of radon, i.e., the greater the accumulation is, the less ventilation and the greater the risk of accumulation of radon gas. This study is located in the city of Alicante, where the seven civil constructions are located: two Civil War shelters, the Santa Barbara Castle, the Ereta Powder Keg, the Luceros-Marq and Serra Grossa railway tunnels and the Británica underground deposits. Radon gas is currently a concern for major health and medical agencies because it is considered to be a chemical element that is very harmful to people. The World Health Organization is one of the organisations that has the objective of studying and researching this element, to develop solutions. Radon gas is normally found in a gaseous state and is highly radioactive. It is present in many terrains and it is mostly found in those with granite; although the presence of this element is very low, there is always a minimum presence. In the past, in nongranite soils, the dose of radon was considered to be so low that it was insignificant. Therefore, in this research, the aim is to consider the high presence of radon gas in nongranite soils as long as the conditions for its accumulation are present.


Author(s):  
Sunil Kumar Kasundriya ◽  
Mamta Dhaneria ◽  
Aditya Mathur ◽  
Ashish Pathak

Childhood pneumonia is a major public health problem. The aim of this prospective hospital-based study is to determine the incidence and risk factors for community-acquired severe pneumonia in children in Ujjain, India. The study includes 270 children, 161 (60%) boys and 109 (40%) girls, aged between 2 months and 5 years with World Health Organization defined and radiologically confirmed severe pneumonia. Considering the 270 children, 64% (95% confidence interval (CI) 57.9–69.4) have severe pneumonia. The following are identified as risk factors for severe pneumonia from the generalized logistic regression model: Born premature (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 7.50; 95% CI 2.22–25.31; p = 0.001); history of measles (AOR 6.35; 95% CI 1.73–23.30; p = 0.005); incomplete vaccination (AOR 2.66; 95% CI 1.09–6.48; p = 0.031); acyanotic congenital heart disease (AOR 9.21; 95% CI 2.29–36.99; p = 0.002); home treatment tried (AOR 3.84; 95% CI 1.42–10.39; p = 0.008); living in a kuchha house (AOR 3.89; 95% CI 1.51–10.01; p = 0.027); overcrowding (AOR 4.50; 95% CI 1.75–11.51; p = 0.002);poor ventilation in living area (AOR 16.37; 95% CI 4.67–57.38; p < 0.001); and practicing open defecation (AOR 16.92; 95% CI 4.95–57.85; p < 0.001). Awareness of these risk factors can reduce mortality due to severe pneumonia.


1970 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 99-106
Author(s):  
Krishna R Bhattarai ◽  
Bharat B Shrestha ◽  
Hari D Lekhak

Physico-chemical (pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, hardness, nitrogen, heavy metal, etc) and bacteriological (coliform bacteria) characteristics of water were studied in samples collected from Sundarijal reservoir and its main feeding streams: Bagmati, Nagmati and Shyalmati in 2003 and 2004 AD. Human activities near the water bodies and sanitary condition of the residential areas of watershed were also examined. Although public awareness and proper management of watershed and reservoir premises were lacking, yet the physico-chemical characters were within the standard of World Health Organization (WHO) and European Commission (EC) for drinking water. However, the coliform bacteria were high and water was not safe to consume without intense treatments with disinfectants. Key words: Coliform; Heavy metals; Human activities; Physico-chemical characters; Sanitary condition. DOI: 10.3126/sw.v6i6.2643 Scientific World, Vol. 6, No. 6, July 2008 99-106


Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Slavica Zec ◽  
Clara Minto ◽  
Carlo Agostoni ◽  
Carolina Fano ◽  
Honoria Ocagli ◽  
...  

The present research combines real data and parameters found in recent literature that were used to design realistic scenarios demonstrating the potential effects (benefits and costs) of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s risk communication regarding the consumption of processed meat, which was proven to be associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) in an International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)/WHO report. The impact of the risk communication of processed meat consumption was simulated using Monte Carlo microsimulation models. The results showed that a 1% reduction in the number of high-level processed meat consumers may lead to a yearly decrease in CRC cases of 406.43 (IC 95%: −243.94, 1056.81), while the more extreme scenario of a 15% reduction may lead to 2086.62 fewer cases (IC 95%: 1426.66, 2746.57). On the other hand, if demand contraction in the processed meat sector resulted in a 0.1% loss in employment, one could expect 27.23 all-cause mortalities attributable to job loss (IC 95%: 16.55, 37.80). This simulation study demonstrates that caution should be taken when implementing public awareness campaigns, particularly when the prevention message is not straightforward.


2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Gomes Ferreira ◽  
Vicente Vieira Faria ◽  
Carlos Euardo Veiga de Carvalho ◽  
Rosangela Paula Teixeira Lessa ◽  
Francisco Marcante Santana da Silva

Mercury is the only element capable to biomagnificate along the food chain, and carnivorous fish tend to accumulate high concentrations of this element. Total mercury in muscle tissue of Carcharhinus signatus sampled along the western equatorial Atlantic Ocean was measured by atomic emission spectrophotometry with ICP/AES. The average total mercury concentrations were consistently greater than the maximum limit for human consumption established by the Brazilian Health Ministry for carnivorous fishes (1000 µg. kg-1 w.w.). Therefore, an average consumption of 0.1 kg/day of C. signatus would result in an average daily ingestion of 174.2 µg of Hg, more than five times the 30 µg/day intake established by the World Health Organization. In the range of lengths studied, body length could not be used as an indicator of the Hg contamination degree for C. signatus. Also, sex cannot be considered a determining factor in the total mercury accumulation in C. signatus.


2020 ◽  
Vol 192 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-60
Author(s):  
Charles K Rotich ◽  
Nadir O Hashim ◽  
Margaret W Chege ◽  
Catherine Nyambura

Abstract The activity concentration of radon in underground water of Bureti sub-county was measured using liquid scintillating counter device. The average radon activity concentration in all the water samples was 12.41 Bql−1. The maximum and minimum activity concentrations of radon were 22.5 and 4.57 Bql−1, respectively. In total, 53% of the total samples analysed had radon concentration levels above the US Environmental Protection Agency-recommended limit of 11.1 Bql−1. The annual dose received by an individual as a result of waterborne radon was determined according to the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effect of Atomic Radiation reports and was found to be 33.23 𝜇Svy−1. All the samples recorded a value &lt;100 𝜇Svy−1 recommended by the World Health Organization and the European Union council.


1972 ◽  
Vol 121 (560) ◽  
pp. 83-87
Author(s):  
Norman Kreitman

Over 70 years ago, Sibbald (1900) commented that the official statistics on suicide showed Scotland to have lower rates than England and Wales. It seems that Scotland has always been regarded as one of the countries with relatively few suicides. A recent World Health Organization publication (1968) commented on the official suicide rates in a sample of 20 different nations; among these Scotland ranked nineteenth in 1952–4. However, this picture appears to have been gradually changing over the last two decades, and the same W.H.O. publication, citing official statistics for the period 1961–3, quotes a value for Scotland which raises it to fifteenth in the list of 20 countries. Moreover, the Scottish rates and those for England and Wales have gradually come closer together over the last 20 years.The aim of this paper is to examine the trends in Scottish statistics for the last two decades and to compare the current suicide rates with those of the rest of the United Kingdom. All the data quoted are based on the publications of the Registrars General for Scotland and for England and Wales.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1245
Author(s):  
Carlos Rizo Maestre ◽  
Claudio A. Sáez ◽  
Ángel B González-Avilés ◽  
Antonio Galiano-Garrigós ◽  
Víctor Echarri-Iribarren

The presence of radon gas in buildings is an indicator of indoor air quality. The study presented analyses the amount of radon gas in the city of Viña del Mar in the Valparaiso region (Chile), in a manor house that currently serves as the Center of Advanced Studies at the Univer-sidad de Playa Ancha. Radon gas is an element considered highly harmful to people by various scientific agencies in the field of medicine and health, including the World Health Organization (WHO). The main effect of the presence of radon in the human environment is the risk of lung cancer. This radioactive gaseous element is present in almost all construction materials, and in the land where buildings are located. This article provides the measurements made by the Center of Advanced Studies of the Universidad de Playa Ancha and analyses the levels obtained according to their danger to humans. These values have been used as comparisons to analyse the differences in the presence of this gas between the Chilean Pacific coast and Europe. The values have been analysed with respect to the requirements that are currently being implemented.  


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document