JLE

Environnement, Risques & Santé

MENU

Residential radon concentrations in Franche-Comté, a high radon region of France Volume 15, issue 2, March-April 2016

Figures


  • Figure 1

Tables

Authors
1 Cire Bourgogne Franche-Comté
2, place des savoirs
CS 73535
21035 Dijon
France
2 Institut de veille sanitaire
12, rue du Val d’Osne
94410 Saint-Maurice
France
3 Agence régionale de santé de Bourgogne Franche-Comté
La City
3, avenue Louise Michel
CS 91785
25044 Besançon Cedex
France
4 Observatoire régional de la santé de Bourgogne Franche-Comté
2, place des savoirs
CS 73535 21035 Dijon
France
* Reprints

Increasing attention is being paid to the health risks of indoor radon exposure and its impact on the general population. In regions where radon is a potential issue, an accurate assessment of this impact is a prerequisite for targeting effective risk prevention policies. Here we present a study of indoor radon measurements, taken in a 450-dwelling sample in a French region of high radon potential (Franche-Comté) to assess exposure levels and determine the influence of dwelling characteristics and lifestyle on radon concentrations. The geometric mean of radon concentration was 73.9 Bq/m3 and 23.3% of homes had measurements above 200 Bq/m3. Around 25% of the variation in radon concentrations was explained by a multivariate regression model that included 6 basic and easy-to-collect variables: local geology, type of dwelling, date of construction, what lies beneath the dwelling, presence or absence of mechanical ventilation, and daily duration of open windows.