IMPROVEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS FOR RADON-222 EXPOSURE

Abstract

Radiation safety is ensured by the system of legislative acts, regulatory and technical documents aimed at limiting the occurrence of deterministic (manifestation and severity of which depends on the absorbed dose) and stochastic (probability of which does not depend on the dose, and the frequency of their occurrence depends on the dose) effects in humans from various sources of ionising radiation. Certain areas of southern Ukraine (central and northern territories of Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kherson, and Kirovohrad regions) are characterised by the presence of granitoids in the underlying rock layer, which contributes to the widespread development of granite mining and granite processing industries in the region [5, 8]. Due to this and the planned introduction of uranium mining enterprises in the region in the near future, one of the most pressing issues of radiation safety and radiation hygiene in the region is the issue of radiation safety from man-made enhanced natural radiation background, primarily ²²²Rn exposure.

The article presents an analysis of the sources of dose load on workers in the granite mining industry. The purpose of the study was to analyse the levels of ²²²Rn exposure of workers in the granite mining industry to assess the need to adjust existing environmental standards. The materials used were the results of measurements of exposure dose rate, measurements of ²²²Rn volumetric equivalent equilibrium activity in the air of working premises and at the workplaces of granite quarry workers in Mykolaiv region, and the results of studies of ²²²Rn content in drinking water.