Abstract
Radon is one of the sources that negatively affect dwellings air quality and is ranked as a main cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking. The indoor radon concentrations usually affected by the conditions of the environment surrounding the dwellings. Seasonal variations can have a significant impact on the indoor radon concentrations. In this article, we studied the seasonal variations of indoor radon concentration in a desert climate, particularly in gulf countries that usually leave the windows and doors closed all over the time. Four hundred dosimeters containing CR-39 detectors were planted for three months to measure the variation in radon concentration between winter and summer seasons. Our measurements showed that a building with a basement revealed a significant variation between radon concentration in winter (44.3 ± 3.1Bqm−3) and in summer (26.1 ± 1.7Bqm−3). Buildings without basements showed that the indoor radon concentration in winter (16.1 ± 1.7Bqm−3) is very much close to that in summer (16.7 ± 1.8Bqm−3). Our results indicated that seasonal variations can significantly affect indoor radon concentration for buildings established with basements. However; in the study region, the average indoor radon concentration as well as the annual effective dose rate are found to be below the action level recommended by ICRP.
•In this article, we studied the seasonal variation of indoor radon concentration in a desert climate.•We showed that the building with a basement revealed a big difference between indoor radon concentration in winter and summer.•We showed the desert climate doesn't have an impact on the seasonal variation of radon levels for buildings without basement.•For building with a basement, the indoor radon concentration was 44.3Bq m−3 in winter and 26.1 Bqm−3 in summer.•For buildings without a basement, the indoor radon levels in winter and summer were closed and the annual radon level was 16.4Bqm−3.