Mircea Moldovan

Low doses - non cancer effect involve also, exposure to RADON alpha particle, through the skin, during radioactive thermal baths. Alpha radiation is considered to have a high impact on the immune-suppressive cytokine and to a certain degree it can influence the temporary regeneration of impaired health function in autoimmune patients, due to their analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. Considering the benefits of thermal water with 30 Bq/l Radon, from Felix-Oradea, Spa Resort, Bihor county, Romania, we analysed the variation of skin biophysical parameters like hydratation (HYDR), trans epidermal water loss (TEWL), sebum quantity (S), and skin surface temperature (T), for different water ‘temperatures, looking comparatively between the left hand submerged in radioactive water and the right hand, submerged in normal water.

Radon is a natural radioactive gas that occurs due to the radioactive decay of radium (226Ra) present in rocks which, in turn, cames from the radioactive decay of uranium (238U), a primordial natural element. Along with factors such as porosity, permeability and humidity of the rocks and soils, pressure and temperature, geology setting plays one of the most important roles in the release of radon into the environment. Depending on the mineralogical compositions and characteristics of the bedrock from a certain area, a higher or lower concentration of radioactive minerals can be found in the rocks, which will directly influence the level of radon in the atmosphere, implicitly the concentration of radon measured in houses. In this study, a six months concentration of radon (222Rn) was assessed in 256houses from Cluj-Napoca area using CR-39 nuclear track detectors. Correlations between the indoor radon levels and the geological setting was further analyzed. The aim is to better understand the influence of geology on the concentration of radon levels in homes, in order to further identify other risk areas in terms of exposure to radon. Further investigation is needed on other factors influencing the accumulation of radon in high concentrations indoor, such as ventilation, occupation patterns or constructive and architectural features for typical houses. Therefore, the results of this work are considered to be important for indoor radon management in Romania.

As a radioactive decay product from rocks, in natural conditions, radon is a source of radiation for the population. Moreover, the awareness regarding the fact that this type of natural radiation is of great radiological health significance for the general population has increased since high concentrations of indoor radon were detected. The first step to prevent the risk of exposure to radon is to identify the sources and find the appropriate mitigation method. Once formed by the disintegration of heavy elements in the Earth’s crust, radon diffuses into the soil and water, and then it is transported to the atmosphere. Being a noble gas, which doesn’t take part in chemical reactions, radon is present in the environmental factors, such as air, water, soil and can accumulates in enclosed spaces with restricted air circulation. The aim of this paper is to determine the total amount of radon to which household members of two houses from Avram Iancu and Câmpeni (Alba County) are being exposed. The radon concentration values were within the national and international proposed limits in the field of radioprotection.

Identify the factors that affect individual sensitivity is a very important step in cancer risk assessment at low doses or low doses rates, according with study of dose-response relationship. DNA damage response processes are likely to play an important role in radiation by cancer risk association. This paper tries to quantify the individual sensitivity to alpha particles exposure using an in vitro exposure model. Quantify of DNA lesions by comet assay, in lymphocytes cultures exposed to the same doses of radiation was made. The irradiation was performed using the pitchblende ore during a 72 hours period, intermittent exposure with dose rates of 89.15 kBq/m3. The lowest and highest Radon Thoron concentrations computed in this study were 89.15 kBq/m3 and 212.9 kBq/m3, respectively. The study was done for healthy donors, comparatively with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases donors. Ageing in vitro of lymphocytes cultures exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation is the biological model used, which are presented here. Based on these results, a standard test should be develop and applied for study of sensitivities in average population groups.