Reducción de 222-Rn en viviendas del “Barrio Capulispamba” cantón Mocha, provincia de Tungurahua, previa su dosimetría.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to reduce the levels of 222-Rn in homes in the “Capulispamba neighborhood”, Mocha canton, Tungurahua province. Corentium home digital detectors were used, the radon concentration was measured in rooms of 36 houses of various construction materials (old, block wall and mixed). Also, three remediation techniques were used (aeration, upholstery and painting). The first measurement was carried out in triplicate, those rooms with the highest radon concentration per dwelling were selected, in these, the cracks in the walls were sealed and the remediation techniques were executed, subsequently, a second measurement was made to verify the proposed reduction. The averages of the initial radon concentrations obtained were: 542,139 𝐵𝑞/𝑚3 for old infrastructures, 386,667 𝐵𝑞/𝑚3 for those of block and 258,222 𝐵𝑞/𝑚3 for mixed, after the remediation, these averages decreased notably. A reduction percentage of 82.507% was obtained with the aeration method, 85.167% with the upholstery and 82.520% with the painting. It was determined that the effective annual inhalation dose before the treatments was between 13,850 𝑚𝑆𝑣 / ϒ and 6,795 𝑚𝑆𝑣 / ϒ, while after these it was 2,285 𝑚𝑆𝑣 / ϒ, 1,661 𝑚𝑆𝑣 / ϒ, 1,134 𝑚𝑆𝑣 / ϒ, in the three types of housing, respectively. It was concluded that the three remediation techniques used reduced the radon concentration below the maximum value proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of 150 𝐵𝑞/𝑚3, being the upholstery with which the best results were obtained. Besides, the effective annual dose reached was less than the action limit of 3 𝑚𝑆𝑣 / ϒ suggested by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). Finally, it is recommended to carry out investigations on the radioactivity coming from the construction materials, soil, and water present in the studied area to determine the causes of the high levels of radon detected.