IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i8p2877-d348590.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Indoor Radon Measurements in Finnish Daycare Centers and Schools—Enforcement of the Radiation Act

Author

Listed:
  • Katja Kojo

    (Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), 00880 Helsinki, Finland)

  • Päivi Kurttio

    (Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), 00880 Helsinki, Finland)

Abstract

Background: Indoor radon exposure is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Finnish radiation legislation obligates employers to measure indoor radon concentrations in workplaces, including schools and daycare centers, if they are in radon prone areas. Surveillance campaigns were conducted to ensure that the required radon measurements were performed and to gain knowledge on current indoor radon levels in daycare centers and schools. Methods: Daycare centers located in the high-radon risk municipalities were identified. Schools where indoor radon level measurements were obligatory but not performed, were identified. Results: Indoor radon measurements were performed in 633 daycare centers where the mean radon concentration was 86 Bq/m 3 and the median 40 Bq/m 3 . The radon level was greater than 300 Bq/m 3 in 8% ( n = 49) of daycare centers. The radon measurements were performed in 1176 schools, which is 95% of the schools to be measured. The mean radon concentration was 82 Bq/m 3 and the median 41 Bq/m 3 . The radon levels were greater than 300 Bq/m 3 in 14% ( n = 169) of the schools. Conclusions: The systematic surveillance campaigns by the radiation protection authority were very efficient in order to ensure that the measurements are performed in schools and daycare centers. The campaigns also reduced the radon exposure of employees, children, and adolescents, where necessary.

Suggested Citation

  • Katja Kojo & Päivi Kurttio, 2020. "Indoor Radon Measurements in Finnish Daycare Centers and Schools—Enforcement of the Radiation Act," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-9, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:8:p:2877-:d:348590
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/8/2877/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/8/2877/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pedro T. B. S. Branco & Rafael A. O. Nunes & Maria C. M. Alvim-Ferraz & Fernando G. Martins & Sofia I. V. Sousa, 2016. "Children’s Exposure to Radon in Nursery and Primary Schools," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-16, March.
    2. Antonio Azara & Marco Dettori & Paolo Castiglia & Andrea Piana & Paolo Durando & Valentina Parodi & Giovanni Salis & Laura Saderi & Giovanni Sotgiu, 2018. "Indoor Radon Exposure in Italian Schools," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-9, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Stefano Capolongo & Andrea Rebecchi & Marco Dettori & Letizia Appolloni & Antonio Azara & Maddalena Buffoli & Lorenzo Capasso & Alessandra Casuccio & Gea Oliveri Conti & Alessandro D’Amico & Margherit, 2018. "Healthy Design and Urban Planning Strategies, Actions, and Policy to Achieve Salutogenic Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-15, November.
    2. Alesia Ferguson & Rosalind Penney & Helena Solo-Gabriele, 2017. "A Review of the Field on Children’s Exposure to Environmental Contaminants: A Risk Assessment Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-25, March.
    3. Antonio Azara & Marco Dettori & Paolo Castiglia & Andrea Piana & Paolo Durando & Valentina Parodi & Giovanni Salis & Laura Saderi & Giovanni Sotgiu, 2018. "Indoor Radon Exposure in Italian Schools," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-9, April.
    4. Antonella Arghittu & Marco Dettori & Antonio Azara & Davide Gentili & Antonello Serra & Bruno Contu & Paolo Castiglia, 2020. "Flu Vaccination Attitudes, Behaviours, and Knowledge among Health Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-16, May.
    5. Kelsey Gordon & Paul D. Terry & Xingxing Liu & Tiffany Harris & Don Vowell & Bud Yard & Jiangang Chen, 2018. "Radon in Schools: A Brief Review of State Laws and Regulations in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-9, September.
    6. Marco Gola & Gaetano Settimo & Stefano Capolongo, 2020. "How Can Design Features and Other Factors Affect the Indoor Air Quality in Inpatient Rooms? Check-Lists for the Design Phase, Daily Procedures and Maintenance Activities for Reducing the Air Concentra," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-20, June.
    7. Juliana P. Sá & Pedro T. B. S. Branco & Maria C. M. Alvim-Ferraz & Fernando G. Martins & Sofia I. V. Sousa, 2017. "Evaluation of Low-Cost Mitigation Measures Implemented to Improve Air Quality in Nursery and Primary Schools," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-21, May.
    8. Alesia Ferguson & Helena Solo-Gabriele, 2016. "Children’s Exposure to Environmental Contaminants: An Editorial Reflection of Articles in the IJERPH Special Issue Entitled, “Children’s Exposure to Environmental Contaminants”," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-10, November.

    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:2877-:d:348590. 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.