Attached and unattached radon progenies in a Greek dwelling

Indoor radon concentrations in Athens and neighborhooding areas are relatively low compared withvalues in the northern part of Greece [1,2]. Nevertheless, we have localized a dwelling near Athens(N. Makri), with an elevated radon concentration. We attained this result from the integrative sampling etched track detector placed in open mode (nitrated type film Kodak) for one year long.The etching procedure and estimation of concentration (Bq/m3 with an uncertainty of 20%) wereconducted by the radon facilities of the Institute for Testing and Disaster Medicine, Milin, CzechRepublic [3]. Additional measurements in this dwelling for shorter periods using the continuous active sampling Radim radon detector and Alpha Guard, Sarad as well verified this value.Table 1 depicts some measurements in this dwelling showing the elevated level of indoor radon. In Athens region indoor concentrations do not exceed 40 Bq/m3. The Mean and Saturated concentration corresponds to all series of measurements and to the more or less constant part,
respectively (Fig. 1). It is well known that, radiobiologically, the dominant factors for the dose
estimation are the attached and unattached radon progenies.We have started estimating the difference of concentrations of these components by using the SARAD EQF 3020 grab sampler. Starting testing this sampler, we have used the dwelling in N.
Makri. For a short period of seven days, we have recorded in this dwelling the attached and unattached progenies testing in this way the reliability of the sampler. Fig.2 shows the variation of these parameters.It is obvious that, these measurements constitute only the start of a series of future measurements in several dwellings and in rooms in which special environmental conditions are dominated, such as smoke or high humidity. Our objectives are to estimate the attached progenies in those environments and derive more accurate absorbed doses for the inhabitants of these areas.
[1] Papastefanou K., Stoulos S., Manolopoulou M., Ioannidou A. and Charalambus S., Indoor Radon
Concentrations in Greek Apartment Dwellings, Presented at the 1rst Southeastern-European Regional
Radon Workshop, Athens, 3-5 April (1997).
[2] Louizi A., Exposure of Greek Population from Indoor Radon Measurements, Presented at the 1st
Southeastern-European Regional Radon Workshop, Athens 3-5 April (1997).
[3] Burian I., Radon Investigation in Czechoslovakia. Radiat. Prot. Dosim., 45(1/4), 469-471, (1992).