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Radiation dose due to radon and thoron

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DOI: 10.1088/1361-6498/37/1/111

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 | Society for Radiological Protection Journal of Radiological Protection
J. Radiol. Prot. 37 (2017) 111126 (16pp) doi:10.1088/1361-6498/37/1/111

Radiation dose due to radon and thoron

progeny inhalation in high-level natural
radiation areas of Kerala, India
Yasutaka Omori1,7, Shinji Tokonami2, Sarata Kumar Sahoo1,
Tetsuo Ishikawa1,7, Atsuyuki Sorimachi2,7,
Masahiro Hosoda3, Hiromi Kudo3, Chanis Pornnumpa3,
Raghu Ram K Nair4, Padmavaty Amma Jayalekshmi5,
Paul Sebastian4 and Suminori Akiba6
1
Research Center for Radiation Protection, National Institute of Radiological Sciences,
4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8555, Japan
2
Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Hirosaki University, 66-1 Hon-cho,
Hirosaki, Aomori 036-8564, Japan
3
Hirosaki University Graduate School of Health Sciences, 66-1 Hon-cho, Hirosaki,
Aomori 036-8564, Japan
4
Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum, Kerala 695011, India
5
Natural Background Radiation Cancer Registry, Karunagappally, Kerala 690536,
India
6
Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 8-35-1
Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890-8544, Japan
7
Current address: Department of Radiation Physics and Chemistry, Fukushima
Medical University, 1 Hikarigaoka, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan

E-mail: tokonami@hirosaki-u.ac.jp

Received 7 March 2016, revised 8 September 2016

Accepted for publication 30 November 2016
Published 21 December 2016

Abstract
In order to evaluate internal exposure to radon and thoron, concentrations
for radon, thoron, and thoron progeny were measured for 259 dwellings
located in high background radiation areas (HBRAs, outdoor external dose:
35 mGy y1) and low background radiation areas (control areas, outdoor
external dose: 1 mGy y1) in Karunagappally Taluk, Kerala, India. The
measurements were conducted using passive-type radon-thoron detectors and
thoron progeny detectors over two six-month measurement periods from June
2010 to June 2011. The results showed no major differences in radon and
thoron progeny concentrations between the HBRAs and the control areas. The
geometric mean of the annual effective dose due to radon and thoron was
calculated as 0.10 and 0.44 mSv, respectively. The doses were small, but not
negligible compared with the external dose in the two areas.

0952-4746/17/010111+16$33.00 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK 111

J. Radiol. Prot. 37 (2017) 111 Y Omori et al

Keywords: high background radiation area, inhalation, internal exposure,

radon, thoron

(Some gures may appear in colour only in the online journal)

1. Introduction

Karunagappally Taluk, in the southwest coastal region of Kerala (India), is a high background
radiation area (HBRA) [1, 2], where epidemiological studies have been conducted to examine
the health effects of chronic exposure to low-level radiation [37]. The highest outdoor air-
kerma rate registered by nationwide surveys was 27 mGy y1, obtained in Chavara, Kar-
unagappally Taluk [8]. Nair et al [5] also measured outdoor and indoor air-kerma rates of 15
and 14 mGy y1, respectively, for 66 306 dwellings in Karunagappally Taluk. The high air-
kerma rate in this region is caused by the presence of thorium (232Th)-rich monazite in the soil
[5, 9, 10]. In Karunagappally Taluk, Nair et al [7] examined cancer incidence with respect to
the external radiation dose in Chavara, Neendakara, Panmana, Alappad, Oachira, and The-
valakkara. In their study [7], the areas were divided into the HBRAs (Chavara, Neendakara,
Panmana, and Alappad) and control (low dose rate) areas (control areas (CAs); Oachira and
Thevalakkara) according to gamma dose rate level.
The radiation doses received by the population include (i) external gamma ray dose due
to cosmic rays and primordial radionuclides (238U decay series, 232Th decay series and 40K),
(ii) doses due to inhalation of radon (222Rn), thoron (220Rn), and their progenies and (iii)
doses due to intake of radionuclides by consumption (food, milk, etc). Some of the earlier
studies (dosimetric surveys) in Karunagappally Taluk focused on external gamma dose
[5, 7, 11, 12]. The present study discusses internal exposure to radon and thoron.
Radon and thoron are generated from alpha decay of 226Ra in the 238U decay series and
that of 224Ra in the 232Th decay series, respectively. Because of the signicant difference in
the half-lives of radon (3.8 d) and thoron (55.6 s), residential radon originates in the ground
and walls of a room, while residential thoron originates mainly in the walls [1]. Once radon
and thoron exhale from the ground and wall, radon and thoron decay products are generated
in the air. The inhaled radon and thoron decay products are deposited along the walls of the
airways of the bronchial tree, which leads to exposure of the lungs [1, 2]. In HBRAs where
the primordial radionuclides such as the 238U and 232Th decay series concentrate, the internal
exposure to radon and thoron, as well as the external exposure, might be elevated.
According to reports provided by the United Nations Scientic Committee on the Effect
of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) [1, 2], the dose from thoron is generally negligible
compared to that from radon in most areas of the world. However, exposure to thoron in
Karunagappally Taluk may contribute signicantly to the inhalation dose, due to the presence
of thorium-rich monazite sand. Chougaonkar et al [13] and Pereira et al [14] evaluated the
dose due to inhalation of radon and thoron, based on measurements of radon and thoron gas
concentrations, using passive twin-cup radon-thoron detectors in the HBRAs (Chavara and
Neendakara). Ben Byju et al [15] also evaluated the inhalation dose by the same method as
Chougaonkar et al [13] and Pereira et al [14] in the lower dose rate areas of Karunagappally
(an administrative subunit in Karunagappally Taluk) and Thevalakkara in addition to the
HBRA of Chavara.
In contrast to dose estimation based on radon and thoron gas concentrations, some
researchers pointed out that direct measurement of thoron progeny concentration is required
for accurate estimation of the dose from thoron. Correlations could not be determined

112
J. Radiol. Prot. 37 (2017) 111 Y Omori et al

Figure 1. Air-kerma rate map in studied areas of Karunagappally Taluk. Al: Alappad,
CH: Chavara, NE: Neendakara, OA: Oachira, PA: Panmana, TV: Thevalakkara. This
gure is reproduced from Hosoda et al [10] CC BY 4.0.

between thoron gas concentrations and thoron progeny concentrations [16, 17], because they
are inuenced by signicant difference in their half-lives and by variable ventilation and air
movement in a room. Tokonami et al [18] measured thoron progeny concentration in four
dwellings in Neendakara. Mayya et al [19] also measured radon and thoron progeny con-
centrations and evaluated the inhalation dose for inhabitants in about 200 dwellings in
Alappad, Chavara, and Neendakara. The recent radon-thoron progeny survey by Mishra et al
[20] covered 442 dwellings in HBRAs (Alappad, Chavara, Neendakara, and Panmana) and 15
dwellings in a CA (Oachira).
Although these previous studies evaluated internal exposure to radon and thoron, they
were insufcient for evaluating the inhalation dose and, as a consequence, insufcient to
provide better understanding of the health effects of chronic internal and external radiation
exposure. In particular, direct measurements of thoron progeny concentrations were con-
ducted for just a small number of dwellings in a low dose rate area. In the present study,
indoor radon and thoron concentrations were measured in 259 dwellings in Karunagappally
Taluk using a passive-type radon-thoron detector for long-term measurements. Thoron pro-
geny concentrations were also measured with deposition detectors placed with the radon-

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J. Radiol. Prot. 37 (2017) 111 Y Omori et al

Table 1. List of measurement conditions.

Number of available readings

Measurement period Dwellings Radon Thoron EETC
Start End HBRA CA HBRA CA HBRA CA HBRA CA
06-08/2010 12/201002/2011 75 50 53 37 68 48 66 44
12/2010 06/2011 108 26 80 14 104 26 63 18

thoron detectors. This survey covered six HBRAs and two CAs, which were categorized
according to outdoor external dose [7].

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Ethics statement

Permissions were obtained from the Scientic Review Committee and Institute Ethics
Committee of Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum and also from the Ministry of Science and
Technology, and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India for interna-
tional collaboration with the Health Research Foundation Japan.

2.2. Study area

The study area is located in Karunagappally Taluk in Kerala, India (gure 1). Karunagappally
Taluk consists of 12 administrative subunits known as panchayats. The climate of the area is
characterized by moderate temperature, and summer and rainy seasons. At Trivandrum,
which is the nearest city (80 km southeast from Karunagappally Taluk) where meteorological
data are available [21], the monthly average temperature is from 27 C (July) to 29 C (April)
with little seasonal variation, and the monthly average rainfall is from 2070 mm (December
March) to 120310 mm (AprilNovember).
Karunagappally Taluk shows an air-kerma rate of about 15 mGy y1 [57]. According
to the survey by Nair et al [5] and a car-borne survey by Hosoda et al [10], the dose rate
distribution is inhomogeneous, and the higher dose rate areas appear to be located close to the
coastline. In the present study, HBRA and CA were identied according to the epidemio-
logical study by Nair et al [7]. In their study [7], cancer incidence was examined with respect
to the external dose in the six panchayats of Chavara, Neendakara, Panmana, Alappad,
Oachira, and Thevalakkara. The authors [7] measured the outdoor gamma dose rate in 71 674
dwellings using scintillometers and, consequently, categorized Chavara, Neendakara, Pan-
mana, and Alappad as HBRAs (median: 35 mGy y1), and Oachira and Thevalakkara as
CAs (1 mGy y1) to examine cancer incidence. The present radon and thoron survey was
conducted in the same areas as by Nair et al [7] to examine whether there was a difference in
inhalation doses between those two areas.

2.3. Measurement conditions

Table 1 summarizes measurement conditions in the present study. Of the 259 dwellings
studied, 183 were selected in the HBRAs and 76 in the CAs. Most of the dwellings were
constructed using cement and brick, though some were built of wood.

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J. Radiol. Prot. 37 (2017) 111 Y Omori et al

The rst set of measurements was made in Alappad, Neendakara, Panmana, Oachira, and
Thevalakkara over about six months from JuneAugust 2010 through December 2010
February 2011. The second set of measurements was made in Alappad, Chavara, Neendakara,
Panmana, and Oachira from December 2010 to June 2011. Although the second set of
measurements covered the same area as the rst set (Alappad, Neendakara, Panmana, and
Oachira), the dwellings measured were different.
Passive-type radon-thoron discriminative detectors and thoron progeny detectors were
deployed for measurements of radon, thoron, and thoron progeny concentrations. A pair of
them was hung 0.22 m from the wall and 0.31.6 m from the ceiling in the bedroom or living
room of the dwelling (some were hung in the dining room or store room). The radon-thoron
discriminative detector was deployed behind the thoron progeny detector in order to avoid the
non-uniform deposition of thoron progeny. In the present study, homogeneous distributions
of radon gas and thoron progeny concentrations in a room are assumed due to long half-lives
[1, 2, 22] with homogeneous distribution in all rooms of the dwelling. Hence, evaluated
values of the dose received are not affected by measurement points.

2.4. Detectors

The radon-thoron discriminative detectors used in the present study were Raduet (Radosys
Co. Ltd, Hungary), which have been used for large-scale surveys [17, 23, 24]. These detectors
have two diffusion chambers with different ventilation rates, and each chamber contains a
CR-39 chip 1010 mm2 in size (Radosys Co., Ltd) [25]. The low diffusion rate chamber is
made of electro-conductive plastic with an inner volume of 30 cm3. The high diffusion rate
chamber is also made of the same material, but it has six holes in the wall and has electro-
conductive sponge covering the holes to prevent radon and thoron progenies, and aerosols
from inltrating inside. The ventilation rates of the chambers differ by two orders of mag-
nitude [26, 27]. The difference in track density between the two CR-39 chips makes it
possible to estimate radon and thoron concentrations separately.
After exposure, the CR-39 chips were sent back to the National Institute of Radiological
Sciences (NIRS), Japan, for processing. The chips were etched in a 6.25M NaOH solution
at 90 C for 6 h, and the formed tracks were counted with an automatic reading system,
Radometer 2000 version 1.43 (Radosys Co. Ltd). For calculating radon (CRn) and thoron
(CTn) concentrations, the obtained track densities were substituted into the following
equations:
NL = CRn FL - Rn T + CTn FL - Tn T + NB1, (1)

NH = CRn FH- Rn T + CTn FH- Tn T + NB1, ( 2)

where NL and NH are track density of CR-39 in the low and high diffusion rate chamber of the
Raduet, respectively, NB1 is background track density, FL-Rn and FH-Rn are conversion factors
for the low and high diffusion rate chamber for radon exposure, respectively, FL-Tn and FH-Tn
are those for thoron exposure, and T is the measurement period. These detectors were
calibrated using NIRS radon and thoron chambers [28, 29], which gave values of FL-Rn,
FH-Rn, FL-Tn, and FH-Tn as 1.202.76, 1.182.65, 0.020.08, and 0.501.77 tracks cm2
(kBq m3 h)1, respectively. The detection limit depends on the measurement period, the
ratio of radon to thoron concentrations, and error of tracks counting, which means that this
limit is different for each measurement. In the present study, the average detection limit was
1 Bq m3 for radon and 6 Bq m3 for thoron.
The thoron progeny deposition detectors also used CR-39 (1010 mm2 in size, Nagase
Landauer, Ltd, Japan) mounted on a stainless steel plate and covered with a thin sheet of

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J. Radiol. Prot. 37 (2017) 111 Y Omori et al

absorber [16, 30]. The total thickness of the absorber sheet was adjusted in such a way that
only the alpha particles (8.78 MeV) emitted from 212Po (thoron progeny) were recorded by a
CR-39.
After measurement was nished, the detectors were removed and processed at the NIRS.
The etching in this case was done in a 6M NaOH solution at 60 C for 24 h and the formed
tracks were counted at 100 magnication with an optical microscope. For calculating thoron
progeny concentration (equilibrium equivalent thoron concentration, EETC), the obtained
track density was substituted into the following equation:
NTnP = EETC FTnP T + NB2 , (3)
where NTnP is track density of CR-39 in the thoron progeny deposition detector, NB2 is
background track density, and FTnP is a conversion factor for the thoron progeny deposition
detectors. The conversion factor was determined based on results of a eld survey [31] and
the chemical etching condition, and it was 6.9102 tracks cm2 (Bq m3 h)1. The
detection limit of EETC was less than 0.01 Bq m3 for a measurement period of about six
months.

2.5. Evaluation of internal exposure to radon and thoron

The dose conversion factors reported by UNSCEAR [1] have been used to estimate the
annual effective doses due to inhalation indoors. In this estimation, the doses from radon and
thoron gases themselves are not included, because their contribution is considered to be low.
Annual effective doses (mSv y1) for radon DRn and for thoron DTn were calculated using the
following formulas:
D Rn = EERC DCFRnP OF, (4)
D Tn = EETC DCFTnP OF, (5)
3
where EERC is the equilibrium equivalent radon concentration (Bq m ); DCFRnP
(9106 mSv (Bq h m3)1) and DCFTnP (40106 mSv (Bq h m3)1) are the radon
and thoron dose conversion factors, respectively; and OF (7000 h) is the occupancy factor
(i.e. the time spent indoors in a year). For calculation of EERC, the equilibrium factor of 0.4
was used [1].

2.6. Statistical analysis

Statistical analysis was performed using the software OriginPro 8.1J (OriginLab Corporation,
USA). The ShapiroWilk test was applied to perform normality (log-normality) tests.
In this analysis, statistical signicance was determined at the signicance probability
of p<0.05.

3. Results

3.1. Radon, thoron, and thoron progeny concentrations

The number of available readings was 90, 116, and 110 of 125 dwellings for radon, thoron,
and thoron progeny, respectively, in the rst set of measurements, and the corresponding
values were 94, 130, and 81 of 134 dwellings in the second set (table 1). The unavailable
readings for radon were due to radon concentration below the lower detection limit. The
average relative measurement uncertainty was 0.29 for radon and 0.15 for thoron. In part-
icular, the average measurement uncertainty for radon at the detection limit 1 Bq m3 was

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J. Radiol. Prot. 37 (2017) 111 Y Omori et al

Figure 2. Frequency distribution of radon (a), and thoron progeny (b) concentrations.

0.83. In contrast, the unavailable readings for thoron progeny were due to a measurement
problem. The average measurement uncertainty for thoron progeny was 0.14. In the present
paper, unavailable readings, including values below the lower detection limit, were excluded
from the analysis.
The distributions of radon and thoron progeny concentrations for dwellings in the rst
and second set of measurements are shown in gures 2(a) and (b), respectively. The Shapiro
Wilk test indicates that, in the rst set, radon had neither a normal nor a log-normal dis-
tribution, while thoron progeny had a log-normal distribution (W-value: 0.11). The radon
concentration ranged from 121 Bq m3, having a geometric mean of 5 Bq m3, and the
thoron progeny concentration ranged from 0.368.00 Bq m3, having a geometric mean of
1.81 Bq m3. The same pattern was observed in the frequency distributions in the second set
as well. Here also, only the thoron progeny had a log-normal distribution (W-value: 0.06).
The radon concentration ranged from 143 Bq m3, having a geometric mean of 4 Bq m3,
and the thoron progeny concentration ranged from 0.457.53 Bq m3, having a geometric
mean of 1.30 Bq m3. The results are summarized in table 2.
The radon-thoron detectors were deployed at various distances from the walls of the
investigated rooms. Because thoron migrates only to a small distance from the source due to
its short half-life [32], the thoron concentrations observed in the present study may be affected
by the detector locations. Consequently, the results of the thoron concentrations are just
shown as references. The thoron concentration ranged from 11212 Bq m3 with a geometric
mean of 41 Bq m3 in the rst set of measurements, and ranged from 3151 Bq m3 with a
geometric mean of 21 Bq m3 in the second set of measurements.

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J. Radiol. Prot. 37 (2017) 111 Y Omori et al

Figure 3. Scatter plots of radon concentration (a) and EETC (b) against thoron
concentration for dwellings in the rst set of measurements.

Table 2. Statistical parameters related to distribution of radon and thoron progeny

concentrations.
GM
AMSDa (GSD)a Range
Nuclides Area Period (Bq m3) (Bq m3) (Bq m3)
Radon All area 1st 64 5 (2.2) 121
2nd 55 4 (2.0) 143
HBRA 1st 53 4 (2.0) 113
2nd 54 4 (1.9) 130
CA 1st 85 6 (2.4) 121
2nd 711 4 (2.5) 143
EETC All area 1st 2.221.54 1.81 (1.9) 0.368.00
2nd 1.591.20 1.30 (1.8) 0.457.53
HBRA 1st 2.151.57 1.75 (1.9) 0.596.72
2nd 1.561.01 1.33 (1.7) 0.525.72
CA 1st 2.321.51 1.92 (1.9) 0.368.00
2nd 1.691.74 1.22 (2.2) 0.457.53
a
AM: Arithmetic mean; SD: Standard deviation; GM: Geometric mean; GSD: Geometric
standard deviation.

We further examined relationships among concentrations of radon, thoron, and thoron

progeny. In gures 3(a) and (b), radon concentrations and EETCs were plotted against thoron
concentrations obtained in the rst set of measurements. No correlations were found between
thoron and radon concentrations or between thoron concentrations and EETCs.
The investigated dwellings were selected within the HBRAs and the CAs, and the radon
and thoron progeny concentrations were compared between the two areas. Figure 4 shows
box-and-whisker plots of radon concentrations and EETCs. The thoron progeny concentration
showed no major differences between the two areas. In contrast, the radon concentration was
observed to be higher in the HBRAs than in the CAs in the rst set of measurements.

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J. Radiol. Prot. 37 (2017) 111 Y Omori et al

Figure 4. Box-and-whisker plots of radon concentrations (a) and EETCs (b) with
respect to the HBRA and the CA. The bigger box presents the range between the 25th
percentile and 75th percentile. In the box, median and average are depicted by the line
and the small box, respectively. The whiskers present the range of the minimum and
maximum.

However, the difference in the geometric mean of the radon concentration between the two
areas was only a few Bq m3 (table 2). In addition, no major difference was found in the
second set of measurements. In table 2, the arithmetic means and standard deviations of the
radon concentrations and EETCs are summarized with respect to the two areas.

3.2. Radiation dose due to inhalation of radon and thoron

Radiation dose evaluation was made for inhabitants of the dwellings for both sets of mea-
surements. It is noted that, although the second set of measurements surveyed the same
area as the rst set (Alappad, Neendakara, Panmana, and Oachira), it covered different
dwellings in a different season. Figure 5 shows comparisons of radon and thoron progeny
concentrations in the rst and second set of measurements (thoron data were not shown,
because they were not used for dose evaluation). Only slight differences were found
between them. Seasonal variations of radon and thoron progeny concentrations were not
assumed, and the data obtained in the second set of measurements were also included in the
dose evaluation.
The annual effective dose due to inhalation of indoor radon progeny was calculated
assuming a radon equilibrium factor of 0.4. It was found to have a range of 0.021.07 mSv,
with an arithmetic mean of 0.140.12 mSv and a geometric mean of 0.10 mSv. The dose
due to thoron progeny was calculated from the results of the thoron progeny deposition
detectors. It was found to have a range of 0.102.24 mSv, with an arithmetic mean of
0.550.40 mSv and a geometric mean of 0.44 mSv. Figure 6 shows the frequency dis-
tribution of the dose ratio of thoron to radon. Almost all of the dose ratios were greater than
unity and about 10% of them were >10.

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J. Radiol. Prot. 37 (2017) 111 Y Omori et al

Figure 5. Comparisons of radon concentrations (a), (b) and EETCs (c), (d) among
measurement sites. Descriptions of the box-and-whisker plots are the same as those in
gure 4. The number of dwellings analyzed was 1225 for radon and 1328 for EETC.

Figure 6. Probability plots of the dose ratio of thoron to radon (n=135).

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J. Radiol. Prot. 37 (2017) 111 Y Omori et al

Figure 7. Frequency distribution of annual effective dose due to inhalation of indoor

radon and thoron (n=191).

Table 3. Statistical parameters related to effective doses due to inhalation of radon and
thoron progeny.
AMSDa GM (GSD)a Range
Number (mSv y1) (mSv y1) (mSv y1)
All area Total 191 0.650.44 0.54 (1.8) 0.132.60
Radon 184 0.140.12 0.10 (2.1) 0.021.07
Thoron 191 0.550.40 0.44 (1.9) 0.102.24
HBRA Total 129 0.610.39 0.52 (1.8) 0.181.98
Radon 133 0.120.09 0.10 (1.9) 0.020.75
Thoron 129 0.520.38 0.43 (1.8) 0.151.88
CA Total 62 0.740.52 0.59 (2.0) 0.132.60
Radon 51 0.190.18 0.13 (2.5) 0.021.07
Thoron 62 0.600.44 0.47 (2.0) 0.102.24
a
AM: Arithmetic mean; SD: Standard deviation; GM: Geometric mean; GSD: Geometric
standard deviation.

Total doses due to inhalation were estimated for each dwelling. As shown in table 1,
some radon concentrations were lower than the detection limit and some EETCs could not be
obtained. In the present study, most of the detection limits for radon show 1 Bq m3, which
means that the dose due to inhalation of radon is negligible. In contrast, the dose due to
inhalation of thoron is not negligible, because of the high thoron progeny concentration as
discussed above. Hence, only the dwellings where EETC was not obtained were excluded
from the evaluation of the total dose.
Figure 7 shows the frequency distribution of the total annual effective dose due to
inhalation of radon and thoron progeny. It was calculated to be 0.132.60 mSv, having an
arithmetic mean of 0.650.44 mSv and a geometric mean of 0.54 mSv. In addition, the
equivalent dose to the lungs was calculated to be 1.121.7 mSv. In table 3, arithmetic means
and standard deviations of the effective dose due to inhalation are summarized for the HBRAs
and the CAs.

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J. Radiol. Prot. 37 (2017) 111 Y Omori et al

Figure 8. Probability plots of thoron equilibrium factor (n=180).

4. Discussion

The geometric mean of radon concentration was observed to be 45 Bq m3 from the rst and
second set of measurements. In addition, it has neither a normal nor a log-normal distribution.
Generally, indoor radon is 1040 Bq m3 in India and is well described by a log-normal
distribution [33]. Compared to these, the observed values were relatively low and closer to the
outdoor radon level. In the studied area, a warm climate with around 28 C outdoor temp-
erature experienced throughout the year. Under such conditions, residents tend to open
windows, and indoor air is well mixed with outdoor air due to the high ventilation rates. In
addition, the area is located within a few kilometers from the coastline, which is signicantly
affected by oceanic air. These factors may result in a lower indoor radon concentration in this
area, without any particular distribution.
We further compared the results with previous studies carried out in almost the same
area. The radon concentrations obtained at four sites in Neendakara by Tokonami et al [18]
are consistent with the present study; the arithmetic mean of the radon concentration was
10 Bq m3 [18]. However, the geometric means of the radon concentration in the present
study are lower than that (2224 Bq m3) reported by Chougaonkar et al [13] and Pereira
et al [14]. It is difcult to identify reasons for this difference, because simultaneous mea-
surements were not made. The possible reasons might include different positions of the
detectors deployed and the use of different kinds of detectors for measurement. According to
Sahoo et al [34], the detectors used in these previous studies had different sensitivity to radon
and thoron, depending on the strength of the turbulence of the indoor air.
The thoron progeny concentrations in the rst and second set of measurements were
0.368.00 Bq m3 (arithmetic mean: 2.221.54 Bq m3) and 0.457.53 Bq m3 (arithmetic
mean: 1.591.20 Bq m3), respectively. Mayya et al [19] reported a maximum value of
3.32 Bq m3 for the EETC in Panmana. The recent survey by Mishra et al [20] revealed that
the average thoron progeny concentration was 0.600.13 Bq m3. Although a difference
was found between the present and previous studies, the thoron equilibrium factor is com-
parable. The arithmetic mean of the thoron equilibrium factor was 0.060.04 (range:
0.0050.29, gure 8), while it was 0.070.04 (range: 0.030.2) for Mayya et al [19] and
0.070.04 for Mishra et al [20].

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No correlation was found between radon and thoron concentrations or between thoron
and thoron progeny concentrations. As described above, the detectors were deployed at
various distances from the walls of the rooms. Thoron concentration varies considerably due
to its short half-life [32], while the radon and thoron progeny concentrations tend to be
distributed uniformly due to their relatively long half-life [1, 2, 22]. Furthermore, the
observed radon concentration implies well mixed indoor and outdoor air. These may mask a
particular relationship between them. This also suggests that exposure to thoron cannot be
predicted from exposure to radon, and that the EETC has a large uncertainty when it is
estimated from thoron concentration assuming a single thoron equilibrium factor.
In the study area, a higher contribution of thoron to the inhalation dose was observed.
The geometric mean of inhalation dose was evaluated as 0.10, 0.44, and 0.54 mSv for radon,
thoron, and both of them, respectively. At almost all of the investigated dwellings, exposure
to thoron exceeded exposure to radon. According to the UNSCEAR report [2], the dose of
thoron is often negligible, but it is not so in certain circumstances. In Yangjiang (China),
which is an HBRA due to deposition of thorium-bearing monazite sand, a non-negligible
contribution of thoron to the dose was reported in some studies [24, 35, 36]. Similarly, the
presence of thorium-bearing monazite sand contributes a large part in elevating the inhalation
dose to thoron in the present study area. The outdoor ambient gamma dose rate survey by
Hosoda et al [10] revealed that 70% of the gamma dose rate values originated from the
thorium decay series.
The inhalation dose obtained in previous studies by Chougaonkar et al [13] and Pereira
et al [14] estimated the total inhalation dose to be 1.1 and 0.7 mSv (geometric mean),
respectively. However, careful attention should be paid when comparing previous and present
studies. The previous studies reported a higher concentration of radon, which means that
exposure to radon was dominant in internal exposure due to inhalation. In addition, they
assumed a single thoron equilibrium factor (0.03/0.10) for the dose received from thoron. In
the present study, thoron concentration and EETC were not correlated (gure 3(b)) and a
single thoron equilibrium factor could not be determined, although different location of the
detectors might affect the correlation. These differences increase the uncertainty about the
contribution of thoron progeny to internal exposure. On the other hand, Mayya et al [19]
found inhalation doses (geometric means) of 0.25 mSv y1 for radon and 0.15 mSv y1 for
thoron based on direct measurements of the concentrations of radon and thoron progenies.
They also measured radon and thoron equilibrium factors for 18 of 194 dwellings and
estimated these as 0.510.16 (range: 0.20.7) and 0.070.04, respectively. Similar values
were also determined by Mishra et al [20]. The inhalation dose from radon in the present
study is possibly underestimated considering the wide range of the radon equilibrium factor.
However, the inhalation dose from thoron is consistent with the estimate by Mayya et al [19],
because the thoron equilibrium factors in the present and previous studies are comparable.
Finally, the total dose due to inhalation was compared to the external dose. Nair et al
[5, 7] measured the indoor external gamma dose rate as 1.13.9 mGy y1 (range of geometric
means) using a scintillometer. Assuming the occupancy factor mentioned above and a dose
conversion factor of 0.7 Sv Gy1 [1, 2], external doses can be estimated as 0.62.2 mSv y1.
We also obtained similar results through a car-borne survey in this region [10]. The present
study found that the indoor dose from radon and thoron was 0.54 mSv y1. On the other hand,
although there is a difference in the outdoor external dose between the HBRAs and the CAs
[5, 7], signicant difference was not found in the inhalation dose (table 3). This may mean
that the constituent ratios of external exposure and internal exposure to radon and thoron are
different in the two areas. In addition, the inhalation dose exceeds 1 mSv y1 in about 15% of

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the dwellings, and presents a maximum of 2.6 mSv y1. Thus, the internal exposure due to
inhalation was small, but not negligible, compared with the external exposure.

5. Conclusions

In this study, radon, thoron, and thoron progeny concentrations were measured to estimate
radiation dose due to inhalation in HBRAs and CAs in Karunagappally Taluk, Kerala, India.
A sample of 259 dwellings was selected and passive-type radon-thoron discriminative
detectors and thoron progeny detectors were used for six-month measurements. The results
showed no major differences in radon and thoron progeny concentrations between the
HBRAs and the CAs. Effective doses due to inhalation were estimated to be 0.10 mSv y1 for
radon, 0.44 mSv y1 for thoron, and 0.54 mSv y1 in total (geometric mean). This indicates
that exposure to thoron is more important than exposure to radon. In the study areas, the
internal exposure due to inhalation was small, but not negligible when compared with the
external exposure.

Acknowledgments

This survey was carried out with the kind cooperation of the inhabitants of Karunagappally
Taluk. This work was conducted under the grant-in-aid Dosimetric Studies of Residents in
High Natural Background Radiation Areas in India and China nancially supported by the
Ministry of the Environment in Japan. Although Professor Suminori Akiba is an International
Editorial Adviser of the Journal of Radiological Protection, the authors adherence to the
journal editorial policies and criteria were not altered for the present study.

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