Title

 National and subnational trend of exposure to indoor radon and its diseases burden and inequality distribution in Iran over 1990-2010

Principal Investigator

Dr. Mohammad Hossein Solat

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the trend of exposure to indoor radon (Rn) in a national and sub-national level in Iran over 1990-2010. Due to the limitations in the number of studies conducted in Iran on the assessment of level of indoor Rn, and the fact that we could not reach a map of indoor Rn levels accross Iran using these data, we another approach in which we collected data on levels of three radioactive elements measured accross the country by the Iranian Atomic Energy Organiation. Then, using the equations provided in the literature, we estimated indoor Rn levels in each of the provinces. Then, the Arc GIS software was used to provide the map of indoor Rn levels accross the country. Then, we conducted a literature review and selected few target health endpoints by which to estimate the burdun of disease associated with exposure to indoor Rn levels in Iran
Resutls from the present study indicated that indoor Rn levels were in the range of 45-127 Bq/m3 in Iran. The spatial variation map of Rn levels also indicated that the maximum indoor Rn levels are observed in Northern and Northwestern provinces, including Gilan, Mazandaran, and Ardabil. On the other hand, it was found that the minimum indoor Rn levels are observed in Southern and Southwestern provinces, such as Hormozgan, Markazi, and Bushehr.
Results from the present study can be used to estimate the burden of disease associated with with exposure to indoor Rn levels in a national and sub-national level and to evaluate the inequality in exposure levels in national and sub-national levels

Year

2013