title: Dose conversion factors for radon daughters in underground and open-cut mine atmospheres.
abstract: As uranium will be mined in Australia by open-cut methods, previous work on calculating dose conversion factors for radon daughters has been re-examined. The fractions of radon daughters deposited on lung airways and the factors for converting from equilibrium activity of radon daughters on airways to dose to basal cells are re-calculated. The variation around these estimates through variability of lung morphology and the depth of the basal cells is discussed. Average dose conversion factors calculated for atmospheres which may be typical of underground mines range from 12 mGy/WLM to 33 mGy/WLM. Use has been made of measurement results on unattached fraction at an open-cut mine in the Northern Territory, Australia, to derive dose conversion factors, ranging from 50 mGy/WLM to 135 mGy/WLM which are applicable to this environment.
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants; D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive; D001729:Bismuth; D007854:Lead; D008168:Lung; D008906:Mining; D011059:Polonium; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D017687:Radon Daughters; D014501:Uranium
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive; D017687:Radon Daughters; D007854:Lead; D014501:Uranium; D011059:Polonium; D001729:Bismuth