ABSTRACT
Background: Many public health agencies rank residenal radon exposure as
the second leading cause of lung cancer aer cigaree smoking. It has been
shown that the risk coefficient for lung cancer is higher for children than that
for adults. Therefore, indoor radon measurements were carried out in the
elementary schools of Tulkarem province, West Bank, Palesne. Materials
and Methods: Two hundred and thirty solid state nuclear track detectors
(SSNTDs) type CR-39 were distributed in the classrooms of 20 elementary
schools in Tulkarem province area. About thirty of them were used for quality
assurance purposes. The CR-39 detectors were exposed in the schools for
three months during the school summer holiday from May 2012 to August
2012 and then collected and etched in Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) 6.25 N
soluon at 75 °C for 6 h. The tracks were counted manually at the digital
microscope. Results: The indoor radon levels were generally low, ranging
from 3.48 to 210.51 Bq/m3 (Becquerel per cubic meter), with a mean radon
concentraon (mean±SE; standard error) of 40.42± 2.49 Bq/m3. The average
annual radon effecve dose was assessed to be (mean±SE) 0.17 ± 0.01 mSv/y
(milliSievert per year) while the excess lifeme lung cancer risk was
approximately 0.09%. The results obtained indicate that the indoor radon
concentraon was significantly affected by the floor level of the classroom
(negavely correlated) and the school building age (posively correlated).
Conclusion: The radon concentraon and the resulng dose in the schools
were within the reference levels of the Internaonal Commission on
Radiological Protecon (ICRP). Beer venlaon is recommended to decrease
the risk to the minimum.

Conference Title

The Second Palestinian International Graduate Conference on Natural, Medical and Health Sciences and Humanities

Conference Country

Palestine

Conference Date

April 20, 2017 - April 20, 2017

Conference Sponsor

An-Najah University