Ingredients for a Dutch radon action plan, based on a national survey in more than 2500 dwellings

Abstract

A new Euratom directive demands that Member States establish a national action plan for indoor radon. Important requirements are a national reference level for the radon concentration in dwellings, actions to identify dwellings with radon concentrations that might exceed this reference level and the encouragement of appropriate measures to reduce the radon concentrations in dwellings where these are high. This paper provides ingredients and recommendations for a national action plan for radon in dwellings, applicable to the Netherlands. The approach presented here, which may serve as a model for other countries or regions with a comparatively favourable indoor radon situation, is based on the analysis of radon data from a national survey in more than 2500 Dutch dwellings, built since 1930. The annual average activity concentration of radon in dwellings in the Netherlands equals 15.6 ± 0.3 Bq m^-3. The 50th and 95th percentiles were found to be 12.2 and 38.0 Bq m^-3, respectively. In 0.4 per cent of the dwellings we found values above 100 Bq m^-3. Radon concentrations showed correlations with type of dwelling, year of construction, ventilation system, soil type and smoking behaviour of inhabitants. The survey data suggest that it is feasible for the Netherlands to adopt a national reference level for radon in dwellings of 100 Bq m^-3, in line with recommendations by WHO and ICRP. We were able to predict dwellings with a moderate probability for radon concentrations above 100 Bq m^-3 by applying a combination of three selection criteria: location, type of dwelling and manner of ventilation. Of the existing 6.2 million dwellings in the Netherlands (built since 1930), approximately 23-24 thousand are suspected to exceed this level. Some 80% of these are found in the group of naturally ventilated single-family dwellings in either the southern part of Limburg (approx. 13 thousand) or the Meuse-Rhine-Waal river delta (approx. six thousand). This selected group of dwellings represents 7% of the housing stock. In contrast to many other countries in Europe and elsewhere, radon concentrations in dwellings above 200 Bq m^-3 are very rare in the Netherlands. As a result, relatively simple and inexpensive measures in existing Dutch single-family dwellings will be sufficient to reduce indoor radon concentrations above the proposed national reference level of 100 Bq m^-3 to values well below.

Keywords: Dwellings; Euratom directive; Indoor radon; National survey; Radon action plan.