Estimating annual effective dose and excess of the lung risk factor of radon gas in University of Al-Hamdaniya buildings

Radioactive radon gas is a source of environmental pollution, especially in places where radon levels are high. Radon gas concentrations must be kept at their lowest levels and below globally acceptable limits for a safe environment, which can be accomplished by taking frequent measurements to identify and fix high concentration areas. In this study, radon gas concentration was measured in the air of several buildings of the University of Al-Hamdaniya using the CR-39 solid state nuclear track detector. The measured radon concentrations ranged from 19.24 to 64.60 Bq.m−3, with an average of 41.54 Bq.m−3. The effective annual dose ranged from 0.48 to 1.62 mSv/y. The lifetime cancer risk was 1.86 × 10−3 to 6.26 × 10−3. The mean radon concentration obtained was less than the World Health Organization reference level of 100 Bq.m−3.