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Justification and optimisation in the choice of reference levels for radon in existing Spanish dwellings

1995; IOP Publishing; Volume: 15; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1088/0952-4746/15/4/002

1361-6498

P.A. Colgan, José Luis Sandoval Gutiérrez,

Risk Perception and Management

The results of a national radon survey of 1555 Spanish single family dwellings have been used as the basis for considering the need for and optimisation of intervention to reduce exposure. Certain assumptions have been made about the distribution of radon levels in apartments in order to define the total number of dwellings in need of remediation for reference levels within the range 200-600 Bq m-3. The costs of remediation have been based on the use of radon sumps and published data on installation and maintenance costs have been applied. The monetary value of radiation detriment has been calculated on the basis of the gross national product for Spain and a multiplication factor to account for psycho-social factors has been derived and applied. When compared with everyday risks over which the individual has some control, a reference level somewhere within the range 100-300 Bq m-3 is suggested. The results of cost-benefit analysis are inconclusive: the net benefit of intervention varies by less than 10% for the range of reference levels considered, The sensitivity of the results to changes in either the number of dwellings to be remediated or the monetary value of radiation detriment is also reported. In terms of lung cancer death averted, the costs are within the range $140000-$260000, the higher values being associated with the most restrictive reference level. It is concluded that a high degree of weight can be assigned to the social and political factors in any final decision on choice of reference levels and the responsible national agencies need to consider the costs per life saved by other health initiatives in order to derive maximum benefit from national expenditure.