Volume 20, Issue 1 (Iranian South Medical Journal 2017)                   Iran South Med J 2017, 20(1): 70-76 | Back to browse issues page

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Mowlavi A A, Mohammad Jafari F. The Estimated Annual Effective Dose Caused By Radon and Thoron Gases in the Vicinity of Active Faults in the North East of Iran. Iran South Med J 2017; 20 (1) :70-76
URL: http://ismj.bpums.ac.ir/article-1-858-en.html
The Estimated Annual Effective Dose Caused By Radon and Thoron Gases in the Vicinity of Active Faults in the North East of Iran
Ali Asghar Mowlavi * 1, Farhad Mohammad Jafari2
1- Department of Physics, School of Sciences, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, Iran , amowlavi@hsu.ac.ir
2- Department of Physics, Tehran Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract:   (5559 Views)

Background: Active faults are actually the most important factor in the entry of radon and thoron to the surface of Earth. The location of residential areas on these faults is one of the main reasons for increasing the concentration of these radioactive gases in them.

Materials and Methods: By using RTM1688, the concentration of Radon and Thoron was measured in 200 houses in rural residential areas placed on the active faults in Northern Khorasan in the north-east of Iran. Results: Radon measurements range was registered from 12Bqm-3 and 188 Bqm-3 with an average of 75.43 Bqm-3. The highest annual effective dose in samples was 5.45 mSv and the lowest was 0.35 mSv with an average of 2.187mSv. The range of Thoron was registered between 0.0 Bqm-3 and 840Bqm-3 with an average of 325.48 Bqm-3. The highest annual effective dose in samples was 21.17 mSv and the lowest was 0 mSv with an average of 8.20 mSv.

Conclusion: The results show that in close areas to active faults of north-east of Iran the concentration of Thoron and Radon is two to three times more than the safe level. It was found that 20 percent of residential areas are subject to annual effective dose greater than the limit for radon and 54 percent for Thoron. The high concentration of Thoron and Radon in these areas show that the active faults play the main role of producing of these gases which may increase of lung diseases.

Keywords: Radon, Thoron, active fault, annual effective absorption dose
Full-Text [PDF 464 kb]   (1304 Downloads)    
Type of Study: Original | Subject: Radiology. Diagnostic Imaging
Received: 2016/01/15 | Accepted: 2016/04/25 | Published: 2017/02/26
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