Building and environmental factors associated with elevated radon levels in rural Iowa homes

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993

OSTI ID:7161821

Weih, L M.B.

This work examined the relationships between home construction, soil, and climatic factors with radon concentration in 585 rural Iowa homes, screened in winter of 1989. The specific goals of this work were to evaluate the utility of Soil Conservation data in describing radon occurrence in Iowa, and to assess the joint influence of construction and environmental characteristics on predicting radon concentration in homes. A follow-up study in a subset of homes evaluated the variability of radon screening measurements over time. The first part found that the relationship between radon concentration and home construction factors was dependent on location of the radon test in homes. In basements, wall construction and degree of energy efficiency predominated in predicting radon concentration. On upper floors, age of home predominated in predicting radon concentration, with a general decrease in radon concentration with age of home. The second part found that texture of the soil on which the home is located was the most important predictor of radon concentration for homes tested in basements, but the explanatory power was low. Precipitation in the year preceding screening was negatively correlated with radon concentration in homes, but the relationship was only apparent when basement wall type and soil texture were accounted for. Regional trends were not apparent except in describing the relative distribution of soil texture classes across the state. Radon concentration on upper floors of homes was not well described by either soil factors or precipitation. In 1992 a decrease of 36% and 51% from 1989 radon screening levels was found for homes tested in basements and upper floors, respectively. This data set included pair measurements of the same testing location in homes tested in winter 1989. Temperature differences were positively correlated with radon concentration and precipitation differences were not significantly associated with change in radon concentration.

• Research Organization: Iowa Univ., Iowa City, IA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 7161821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540130* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
ABUNDANCE
AIR POLLUTION
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
BUILDINGS
ELEMENTS
FLUIDS
GASES
HOUSES
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
MATHEMATICS
NONMETALS
POLLUTION
RADON
RARE GASES
REGRESSION ANALYSIS
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
STATISTICS