Development of a corrective model of short-term radon concentrations to estimate annual effective doses in the primary schools of the Doukkala-Abda region, Morocco. Issue 6 (July 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ouakkas, Saad; Boukhair, Aziz; Abdo, Maged Ahmed Saleh; Benjelloun, Mohammed
• Is Part Of: Indoor + built environment. Volume 31:Issue 6(2022)
• Page Start: 1482
• Page End: 1492
• Publication Date: 2022-07
• Subjects: Seasonal correction factors -- Indoor radon concentration -- LR115 detectors -- Annual effective doses -- Primary schools; Indoor air pollution -- Periodicals; Sick building syndrome -- Periodicals; Buildings -- Environmental engineering -- Periodicals; Environmental health -- Periodicals; 613.5
• DOI: 10.1177/1420326X211059134
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1420-326X

Abstract

In order to assess the radiological impact of radon on >250, 000 students, the total annual effective dose was estimated inside 204 Moroccan primary schools sampled in the Doukkala-Abda region. The measurement of indoor radon concentrations was conducted using the LR115 detector for each month, each season and throughout the year. The evolution of indoor radon concentrations showed a decrease in annual average radon concentrations of 20–26% and 10–14%, respectively, compared to the monthly and seasonal annual average radon concentrations. For this purpose, a corrective model of short-term radon concentrations was developed to calculate the seasonal correction factors in order to estimate the annual indoor radon concentrations. For the qualitative evaluation of these factors, a percentage of deviation between the measured and estimated annual radon concentrations was calculated. Almost half of the estimated annual concentrations were 10% less than the measured concentration and the majority of these estimated values were within 40%. The estimated total annual effective doses received by students, except those in the Sidi Bennour city, were higher than the world average (1.15 mSv/y). Nevertheless, all these doses remained below the permissible limit recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (3–10 mSv/y).