Indoor radon risk assessment in education buildings from kindergarten to high-school in Campania region

Fabrizio Ambrosino ¹ Giuseppe La Verde ^1* Roberta Oliva ¹ Antonio Sarno ² Mariagabriella Pugliese ¹

• ¹ University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
• ² University of Milan, Milan, Lombardy, Italy

In the context of the 2024 Italian National Radon Action Plan that requires the monitoring of types of workplaces, work activities and buildings with public access, 222Rn activity concentrations in 67 schools in Campania region (Italy) involving kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools and high-schools have been measured by using for passive detectors for 1 years. The information collected for a correct evaluation was: the construction materials used and the covering of walls and floors, the intended use of the rooms, and the type of people exposed: students, teachers or administrative staff. Annual Effective Dose (AED), Lung Cancer Cases (LCC) and Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk (ELCR) for the three people categories were estimated. The average 222Rn activity concentration was 262 Bq/m3 in kindergarten (Std. Dev. = 158 Bq/m3), 292 Bq/m3 for both primary and secondary schools (Std. Dev. = 189 Bq/m3 and 213 Bq/m3, respectively), and 150 Bq/m3 (Std. Dev. = 205 Bq/m3), in high schools. The difference between schools built of tuff and those of concrete was statistically different with average activity of 276 Bq/m3 vs 144 Bq/m3. As expected, also the floor had a considerable impact on the activity concentration, reducing it as the distance from the ground floor increased. The average AED ranged between 2.2 mSv (at the kindergarten) and 1.1 mSv (at high-school) for students, and between 1.3 mSv and 0.6 mSv for teachers. AED for administrative staff was estimated to be 2.5 mSv on average. The highest AED corresponded to the highest LCC and ELCR for administrative staff, estimated at 45 per million people and 8.6%, respectively. Such a proposed approach could implement the risk management system in accordance also with the principles of radiation protection and prevention dealing with human health.