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Public Health

Physics Faculty Publications

Series

1999

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Intercomparison Of Retrospective Radon Detectors, R. William Field, Daniel J. Steck, Mary Ann Parkhurst, Judy A. Mahaffey, Michael C.R. Alavanja Nov 1999

Intercomparison Of Retrospective Radon Detectors, R. William Field, Daniel J. Steck, Mary Ann Parkhurst, Judy A. Mahaffey, Michael C.R. Alavanja

Physics Faculty Publications

We performed both a laboratory and a field intercomparison of two novel glass-based retrospective radon detectors previously used in major radon case-control studies performed in Missouri and Iowa. The new detectors estimate retrospective residential radon exposure from the accumulation of a long-lived radon decay product, 210Pb, in glass. The detectors use track registration material in direct contact with glass surfaces to measure the α-emission of a 210Pb-decay product, 210Po. The detector's track density generation rate (tracks per square centimeter per hour) is proportional to the surface α-activity. In the absence of other strong sources of α-emission in …


Exposure To Atmospheric Radon, Daniel J. Steck, R. William Field, Charles F. Lynch Feb 1999

Exposure To Atmospheric Radon, Daniel J. Steck, R. William Field, Charles F. Lynch

Physics Faculty Publications

We measured radon (222Rn) concentrations in Iowa and Minnesota and found that unusually high annual average radon concentrations occur outdoors in portions of central North America. In some areas, outdoor concentrations exceed the national average indoor radon concentration. The general spatial patterns of outdoor radon and indoor radon are similar to the spatial distribution of radon progeny in the soil. Outdoor radon exposure in this region can be a substantial fraction of an individual's total radon exposure and is highly variable across the population. Estimated lifetime effective dose equivalents for the women participants in a radon-related lung cancer …