The Calculation of the Annual Effective Dose Due to Radon Progeny in Ramsar

Background: Ramsar, in northern Iran, is among the world’s well-known areas with highest levels of natural radiation such as Radon which is the second leading cause of lung cancer .It can get into any type of building, homes, offices, and schools and result in a high indoor radon level. Some radioisotopes of Radon progeny deposited in the human lungs emit α and β particles followed by γ rays. While γ and β rays are comparatively less damaging to the respiratory system than α, they store their energy in the other organs because the high penetrating photons can travel through the whole human body without being absorbed.In order to establish a quantitative estimate of the hazards caused by such radiation, this paper studies the annual effective dose due to Radon progeny in Ramsar.ResultsThe results show the photon absorbed dose in some organs such as lungs, heart, esophagus, thymus and breasts are remarkable especially for the maximum concentration of radon in Iran, and the contribution of such great organ doses should be studied for lung, esophagus, and breast cancers. Also the effective dose of these photons and electrons per year was 9.1 mSvWLM-+ in Ramsar.ConclusionThe dosimetry of photons and electrons are important, particularly in situations with high levels of exposure to Radon because all organs received the photon and electron absorbed dose from radon progeny. Also the value of the effective dose per year is more than the annual allowable effective dose (+ mSv), so one cannot ignore the photon and electron dose, and high concentrations of radon.

Keywords:

Dosimetry , Lung Cancer , ORNL Phantom , Radon Progeny , Ramsar , MCNPX