Occupational exposure to radon in thermal spas

Abstract

Radon is a natural radioactive gas that may be present in soil air, water, groundwaterand indoor as well as outdoor air. Radon is the largest source of natural radiation exposure; it representsalmost 50% of the radiation that people are exposed to in a lifetime. Thermal spas are multifacetedprojects that have been increasing in the last few years. However, the presence of radon in thermal andmineral waters enhance the risk of professionals being exposed to an additional level of radiation aswell as the visitors and patients. Therefore, a growing interest and mostly a concern in protecting peopleexposed to radiation from radon and short-lived daughters have been drawn much of public attention.The objective of this work is to develop a bibliographical revision about exposure to radon in thermalestablishments spas. The bibliographical revision was carried out by searching key-words in several databasesand scientific journals. The majority of the consulted and validated studies concluded that theexposure to high radon concentrations may be a threat to human health; radon is the second most importantcause of lung cancer in many countries. As thermal spas are an important economic sector with asignificative social and historical components, it is important investigate the magnitude of the exposurein order to take the necessary actions to protect those that in fact may be exposed to radiation in thermalestablishments spas.