radon risk and properties

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Lab Experiment

Name______________-

This lab consists of two parts. One is an assay of your annual radiation exposure which is to be compared with the national annual average. The second is an excercise centered on radon gas and the risk it poses to you. Students in Dr. Volland's WAOL class should file reports using the equiz for the experiment.

All rights reserved 2002-2005,© Dr. Walt Volland

Revised March 1, 2007

Your Annual Dose , the U.S. Annual Average and Radon Exposure

You can estimate your annual dose using the following table. These tables are adapted
from A.R. Hinrichs: Energy, pp 335-336. Philadelphia, Saunders College Publishing, 1992.

Estimate of your annual dose

	Sources of Radiation You add the contributions from each source to get your estimated exposure.						Annual dose in mrem
	Location: Cosmic radiation at sea level For your elevation (in feet) add this number of mrem						___26___ ________
Where You Live	Elevation in feet	mrem	Elevation	mrem	Elevation	mrem	---------------
	1000	2	4000	15	7000	40	---------------
	2000	5	5000	21	8000	53	---------------
	3000	9	6000	29	9000	70	---------------
	Ground or sealevel : U.S. average						___26___
	Home construction: For stone, concrete, or masonry building add 7 mrem						________
What You Eat, Drink, and Breathe	Food, water air: U.S. average Weapons test fallout						___24___ ____4___
How You Live	X ray and radiopharmaceutical diagnosis: Number of chest x rays _______ x 10 Number of lower gastrointestinal tract X rays _____ x 500 Number of radiopharmaceutical examinations _____ x 300 (Average dose to total U.S. population = 92 mrem)						________ ________ ________
	Jet plane travel: For each 2500 miles add 1 mrem						________
	TV viewing: Number of hours per day ____ x 0.15						_______
How Close You Live to a Nuclear Plant	At site boundary: average number of hours per day _____ x 0.2						________
	One mile away: average number of hours per day _____ x 0.02						________
	Five miles away: average number of hours per day _____ x 0.002						________
	Note: Maximum allowable dose determined by "as low as achievable"(ALARA) criteria established by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Experience shows that your actual dose is substantially less than these limits.						--------------
	Your total annual dose in mrem						________

2.

Comparing your estimated dose with the U.S.Annual Average

The average annual dose in the U.S. is 180 to 200 mrem.

How does your annual dose compare with this average? Is your dose high, low or average?

3.
Principle source of exposure

What source is the largest contributor to your annual dose?

a. Where I live.

b. What I eat, drink, and breathe.

c. How I live, x-rays, TV watching, jet travel.

d.How close I live to a nuclear reactor.

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Radon risks and properties
Environmental Protection Agency, EPA and the United States Geological Survey

You are supposed to answer the questions below using information found at these sites.

EPA site that gives data on fatalities and risks to citizens

http://www.epa.gov/radon/healthrisks.html

U.S. Geological Survey answers the question: What is Radon?

http://www.webelements.com/webelements/elements/text/Rn/key.html

U.S. Geological Survey gives general risk potential for regions of the United States

http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Research-Review/Highlights/1993/radon-risk.html

OSHA description of Ionizing Radiation like beta, alpha, and gamma radiation.

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/radiationionizing/

Answers to the questions: What is radiation? How is it measured? How is it produced?

http://www.csbsju.edu/MNradon/sites.html

Radon risks and radiation facts

QUESTIONS Name _________________use equiz to file report

1.What isotope of radon ( give mass number with symbol) is the radioactive and dangerous form? Give the symbol for radon

2.What radiation does this dangerous form of radon emit? ( beta, alpha, or gamma ) What does this particle do that makes it a problem?

3.What is the half life for radon?

4.Approximately how much radon from a radon sample will be left after 3.8 days? 7.6 days?

5.What does the EPA say about the number of deaths per year that are the result of radon exposure?

6.What radiation makes radon a health risk that causes lung ________

7.What is the radon risk for your geographical( county) region? High, moderate , low.

For County information use this link http://www.epa.gov/radon/zonemap.html

DUPLICATE SET OF QUESTIONS

1. What isotope of radon ( mass number for isotope) is the radioactive and dangerous form? Give the symbol for radon

2. What radiation does this dangerous form of radon emit? ( beta, alpha, or gamma ) What does this particle do that makes it a problem?

3. What is the half life for radon?

4. Approximately how much of a radon sample will be left after 3.8 days? 7.6 days?

5. What does the EPA say about the number of deaths per year that are the result of radon exposure?

6. What radiation does Radon emit that causes lung ________ ?

7. What is the radon risk for your geographical( county) region? High, moderate , low.

For County information use this link

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/radon/zonemap.html