title: Air radon concentration decrease in a waste water treatment plant.
abstract: (222)Rn is a naturally occurring gas created from the decay of (226)Ra. The long-term health risk of breathing radon is lung cancer. One particular place where indoor radon concentrations can exceed national guidelines is in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) where treatment processes may contribute to ambient airborne concentrations. The aim of this paper was to study the radon concentration decrease after the application of corrective measures in a Spanish WWTP. According to first measures, air radon concentration exceeded International Commission Radiologica1 Protection (ICRP) normative (recommends intervention between 400 and 1000 Bq m(-3)). Therefore, the WWTP improved mechanical forced ventilation to lower occupational exposure. This measure allowed to increase the administrative controls, since the limitation of workers access to the plant changed from 2 h d(-1) (considering a maximum permissible dose of 20 mSv y(-1) averaged over 5 y) to 7 h d(-1).
authors.affiliation: ISIRYM, Instituto de Seguridad Industrial, Radiofísica y Medioambiental, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Camí de Vera s/n, Valencia 46022, Spain bejusvi@iqn.upv.es.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Juste
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Radiactividad Ambiental, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Camí de Vera s/n, Valencia 46022, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.affiliation: ISIRYM, Instituto de Seguridad Industrial, Radiofísica y Medioambiental, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Camí de Vera s/n, Valencia 46022, Spain.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Verdú
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Radiactividad Ambiental, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Camí de Vera s/n, Valencia 46022, Spain.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martorell
mesh_terms: D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D005160:Facility Design and Construction; D005740:Gases; D006801:Humans; D008452:Maximum Allowable Concentration; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D044367:Phase Transition; D000069079:Radiation Exposure; D011886:Radon / Q000032:analysis*; D013030:Spain; D014691:Ventilation; D064091:Waste Disposal Facilities; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive; D005740:Gases; D011886:Radon; D062065:Wastewater; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive