title: Distribution of radon concentrations in child-care facilities in South Korea.
abstract: This study was conducted to provide fundamental data on the distribution of radon concentrations in child day-care facilities in South Korea and to help establish radon mitigation strategies. For this study, 230 child-care centers were randomly chosen from all child-care centers nationwide, and alpha track detectors were used to examine cumulative radon exposure concentrations from January to May 2015. The mean radon concentration measured in Korean child-care centers is approximately 52 Bq m-3, about one-third of the upper limit of 148 Bq m-3, which is recommended by South Korea's Indoor Air Quality Control in Public Use Facilities, etc. Act and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Furthermore, this concentration is about 50% lower than 102 Bq m-3, which is the measured concentration of radon in houses nationwide from December 2013 to February 2014. Our results indicate that the amount of ventilation, as a major determining factor for indoor radon concentrations, is strongly correlated with the fluctuation of indoor radon concentrations in Korean child-care centers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seokyeong University, South Korea. Electronic address: cheolminlee@skuniv.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Cheol-Min
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Environmental Research, South Korea.
authors.forename: Myung-Hee
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Humanities and Social Medicine, Ajou University, South Korea.
authors.forename: Dae-Ryong
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seokyeong University, South Korea.
authors.forename: Tae-Hyun
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seokyeong University, South Korea.
authors.forename: Si-Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seokyeong University, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jung-Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Kwak
mesh_terms: D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011886:Radon / Q000032:analysis*; D056910:Republic of Korea; D014691:Ventilation
chemical_list: D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive; D011886:Radon
keywords: Child-care facility; Children's health; Radon concentrations; South Korea