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Radiological risk assessment due to attached/unattached fractions of radon and thoron progeny in Hanumangarh district, Rajasthan

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Abstract

Present study has been carried out for dose estimation from attached/unattached progeny fractions of radon and thoron using wiremesh capped DTPS/DRPS. The measured annual average attached radon/thoron progeny concentration (EERCA and EETCA) in the dwellings has been found to be 5.93 Bqm−3 and 0.43 Bqm−3 respectively. The calculated inhalation dose due to unattached fractions of radon progeny has been found to vary from 0.01 to 40.54 mSvy−1 with mean value of 5.48 mSvy−1 due to mouth breathing and from 0.01 to 9.42 mSvy−1 with mean value of 1.5 mSvy−1 for nasal breathing and the annual effective dose due to radon and thoron progeny has been found to vary from 0.17 to 1.11 mSvy−1and from 0.06 to 0.47 mSvy−1 respectively. These values lie well below the recommended safe range of 4 mSvy−1 at work places and 14 mSvy−1 at residential places (ICRP (International Commission on Radiological Protection) in Radiological protection against radon exposure. ICRP Publication ref 4836-9756-8598. ICRP, Stockholm, 2018). Hence, the indoor air in the study area is safe for breathing and poses no radiological health risk to the residents.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate the prodigious efforts of Sandeep Kanse (Principle Collaborator for Research Project) BARC, Mumbai, India for his continuous support. The authors are thankful to BRNS-DAE-GoI for providing financial assistance (Grant No. 36(4)/14/29/2016-BRNS/36032) in carrying out research work and also to the residents of the area for their cooperation in indoor sampling. A sincere thank you to Syed Ensha for proof-reading of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University, Bathinda, India

    Amit Kumar Singla, Sandeep Kansal & Supriya Rani

  2. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, India

    Rohit Mehra

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  1. Amit Kumar Singla
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Contributions

Amit Kumar Singla and Sandeep Kansal have designed the research plan and prepared the manuscript with contribution of Supriya Rani and Rohit Mehra. Amit Kumar Singla carried out all the field work for sample collection and analysis in the lab. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sandeep Kansal.

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Singla, A.K., Kansal, S., Rani, S. et al. Radiological risk assessment due to attached/unattached fractions of radon and thoron progeny in Hanumangarh district, Rajasthan. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 330, 1473–1483 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-021-07930-6

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