The influence of meteorological parameters on indoor radon in selected traditional Kenyan dwellings

The effects of outdoor temperature, rainfall and wind speed on the indoor radon concentration in four types of traditional hut in Kenya were investigated by performing short-term (about 48 h) measurements with activated charcoal canisters. The concentrations vary widely (30.2-315.4 Bq m(-3)) during...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of radiological protection 2009-03, Vol.29 (1), p.95-103
Main Authors: Chege, M W, Rathore, I V S, Chhabra, S C, Mustapha, A O
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air Pollutants, Radioactive - analysis
Air Pollution, Indoor - analysis
Correlation
Dwellings
Housing
Indoor
Kenya
Meteorological parameters
Outdoor
Radiation Monitoring - instrumentation
Radon
Radon - analysis
Rainfall
Weather
Wind speed
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Summary:The effects of outdoor temperature, rainfall and wind speed on the indoor radon concentration in four types of traditional hut in Kenya were investigated by performing short-term (about 48 h) measurements with activated charcoal canisters. The concentrations vary widely (30.2-315.4 Bq m(-3)) during the study period, and the overall mean is 170.3 +/- 39.6 Bq m(-3). The indoor radon concentration correlates negatively with both the outdoor temperature (R(2) = 0.06) and the wind speed (R(2) = 0.11) but positively with rainfall (R(2) = 0.03). The results showed that changes in meteorological parameters cause more variations in indoor radon concentrations than the differences in the buildings' characteristics (i.e., designs, materials, etc). However, these variations are not significant (at 1% significance level).
ISSN:0952-4746
1361-6498
DOI:10.1088/0952-4746/29/1/007