A European Atlas of Natural Radiations including Harmonized Radon Maps of the European Union - What Do We Have, What Do We Know, Quo Vadimus?

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas. It is known to be in average, by far, the main contributor to the exposure from natural background radiations received by the population and is also considered to be the main leading cause of lung cancer second to smoking. The last observation has stimulated most European countries to adopt a number of regulations and to identify radon-prone areas. During the years 2004-2005, the European Commission conducted a survey to assess the means and methods used by national authorities to describe radon levels in their countries. The results show clearly that the variety of means and methods to measure and report radon levels is very large. It is the purpose of this paper to summarize the findings of this survey and discuss the reporting issue considering the need for a harmonised strategy between European countries to describe radon levels in our environment.

DUBOIS Gregoire; 

2007-01-10

ARPA Piemonte

JRC33477

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC33477,