IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i8p2813-d347606.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the Impact of Housing Features and Environmental Factors on Home Indoor Radon Concentration Levels on the Navajo Nation

Author

Listed:
  • Sheldwin A. Yazzie

    (Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center, Albuquerque Area Indian Health Board, Inc., 7001 Prospect Place NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110, USA)

  • Scott Davis

    (Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Box 357236, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Health Sciences Building, F-250D, Seattle, WA 98195, USA)

  • Noah Seixas

    (Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Box 354695, 4225 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98195, USA)

  • Michael G. Yost

    (Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Box 354695, 4225 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98195, USA)

Abstract

Uranium is naturally found in the environment as a radioactive metal element with high concentrations in the Southwestern US. In this region is the Navajo Nation, which spans approximately 69,930 square kilometers. A decay product of uranium is radon gas, a lung carcinogen that has no color, odor, or taste. Radon gas may pass from soil into homes; and, indoor accumulation has been associated with geographical location, seasonality, home construction materials, and home ventilation. A home and indoor radon survey was conducted from November 2014 through May 2015, with volunteers who reported residence on the Navajo Nation. Home geolocation, structural characteristics, temperature (°C) during radon testing, and elevation (meters) were recorded. Short-term indoor radon kits were used to measure indoor radon levels. 51 homes were measured for indoor radon levels, with an arithmetic mean concentration of 60.5 Becquerels per cubic meter (Bq/m 3 ) (SD = 42.7). The mean indoor radon concentrations (Bq/m 3 ) by house type were: mobile, 29.0 (SD = 22.9); wood, 58.6 (SD = 36.0); hogan, 74.0 (SD = 0.0); homes constructed of cement and wood, 82.6 (SD = 3.5); and homes constructed of concrete and cement, 105.7 (SD = 55.8). A key observation is that house construction type appears to be associated with the mean home indoor radon concentration. This observation has been published in that the basic structural make-up of the home may affect home ventilation and therefore indoor radon concentration levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Sheldwin A. Yazzie & Scott Davis & Noah Seixas & Michael G. Yost, 2020. "Assessing the Impact of Housing Features and Environmental Factors on Home Indoor Radon Concentration Levels on the Navajo Nation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-18, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:8:p:2813-:d:347606
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/8/2813/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/8/2813/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ji Hyun Park & Cheol Min Lee & Dae Ryong Kang, 2019. "A Deterministic Model for Estimating Indoor Radon Concentrations in South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-8, September.
    2. Roscoe, R.J. & Deddens, J.A. & Salvan, A. & Schnorr, T.M., 1995. "Mortality among Navajo uranium miners," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 85(4), pages 535-540.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eman Leung & Albert Lee & Yilin Liu & Chi-Tim Hung & Ning Fan & Sam C. C. Ching & Hilary Yee & Yinan He & Richard Xu & Hector Wing Hong Tsang & Jingjing Guan, 2024. "Impact of Environment on Pain among the Working Poor: Making Use of Random Forest-Based Stratification Tool to Study the Socioecology of Pain Interference," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(2), pages 1-21, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Benjamin A. Jones, 2017. "The social costs of uranium mining in the US Colorado Plateau cohort, 1960–2005," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 62(4), pages 471-478, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:8:p:2813-:d:347606. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.