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Abstract

This study was conducted to provide fundamental data on the distribution of radon concentrations in child day-care facilities in South Korea and to help establish radon mitigation strategies. For this study, 230 child-care centers were randomly chosen from all child-care centers nationwide, and alpha track detectors were used to examine cumulative radon exposure concentrations from January to May 2015. The mean radon concentration measured in Korean child-care centers is approximately 52 Bq m-3, about one-third of the upper limit of 148 Bq m-3, which is recommended by South Korea's Indoor Air Quality Control in Public Use Facilities, etc. Act and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Furthermore, this concentration is about 50% lower than 102 Bq m-3, which is the measured concentration of radon in houses nationwide from December 2013 to February 2014. Our results indicate that the amount of ventilation, as a major determining factor for indoor radon concentrations, is strongly correlated with the fluctuation of indoor radon concentrations in Korean child-care centers. 

Author information

Lee CM1, Kwon MH2, Kang DR3, Park TH4, Park SH4, Kwak JE4.​

1Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seokyeong University, South Korea. Electronic address: cheolminlee@skuniv.ac.kr.

2National Institute of Environmental Research, South Korea.

3Department of Humanities and Social Medicine, Ajou University, South Korea.

4Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seokyeong University, South Korea.