Environnement, Risques & Santé
MENUResidential radon concentrations in Franche-Comté, a high radon region of France Volume 15, issue 2, March-April 2016
La City
3, avenue Louise Michel
CS 91785
25044 Besançon Cedex
France
2, place des savoirs
CS 73535 21035 Dijon
France
- Key words: environment, lung neoplasms, radiation, radon, risk assessment
- DOI : 10.1684/ers.2016.0852
- Page(s) : 126-34
- Published in: 2016
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.