Radon levels in caves in Primorsko-goranska County, Croatia and assessment of the effective dose for visitors and tourist guides.

IF 2.4 4区环境科学与生态学 Q3 BIOLOGY

Radiation and Environmental Biophysics Pub Date : 2026-03-01 Epub Date: 2025-12-03 DOI:10.1007/s00411-025-01178-4

Gordana Žauhar, Nina Trinajstić, Jagoda Ravlić Gulan, Petra Valić, Filip Šarc, Marija Čargonja

{"title":"Radon levels in caves in Primorsko-goranska County, Croatia and assessment of the effective dose for visitors and tourist guides.","authors":"Gordana Žauhar, Nina Trinajstić, Jagoda Ravlić Gulan, Petra Valić, Filip Šarc, Marija Čargonja","doi":"10.1007/s00411-025-01178-4","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Radon is a natural source of radiation and one of the main causes of lung cancer. Since radon is a product of radium decay, it leaks from soil and rock and often accumulates in enclosed spaces. Caves are known for high radon concentrations, especially under certain meteorological conditions when the air circulation in the cave is weak. In this study, the results of radon monitoring in two caves in Croatia, Šparožna Cave and Biserujka Cave, are presented. Radon concentrations were measured continuously in each cave for 14 months. The monthly average concentrations showed a clear seasonal pattern in both caves, with much higher concentrations during summer. In some parts of the monitoring period in Šparožna Cave, diurnal changes in concentrations can also be seen. The highest measured concentration in the Biserujka Cave was 16 kBq/m3, while in the Šparožna Cave a maximum value of 47 kBq/m3 was measured, which is the highest radon concentration measured in any speleological object in Croatia. The effective dose for a 30 min tourist visit to Biserujka was estimated between 0.015 and 0.053 mSv, depending on the month of the visit, while the effective dose for a 3-hour research visit to Šparožna Cave was estimated between 0.029 and 1.28 mSv. These results may help to provide recommendations for limiting the length of stay of employees and visitors in the investigated caves.","PeriodicalId":21002,"journal":{"name":"Radiation and Environmental Biophysics","volume":" ","pages":"161-174"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Radiation and Environmental Biophysics","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-025-01178-4","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/12/3 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Radon is a natural source of radiation and one of the main causes of lung cancer. Since radon is a product of radium decay, it leaks from soil and rock and often accumulates in enclosed spaces. Caves are known for high radon concentrations, especially under certain meteorological conditions when the air circulation in the cave is weak. In this study, the results of radon monitoring in two caves in Croatia, Šparožna Cave and Biserujka Cave, are presented. Radon concentrations were measured continuously in each cave for 14 months. The monthly average concentrations showed a clear seasonal pattern in both caves, with much higher concentrations during summer. In some parts of the monitoring period in Šparožna Cave, diurnal changes in concentrations can also be seen. The highest measured concentration in the Biserujka Cave was 16 kBq/m³, while in the Šparožna Cave a maximum value of 47 kBq/m³ was measured, which is the highest radon concentration measured in any speleological object in Croatia. The effective dose for a 30 min tourist visit to Biserujka was estimated between 0.015 and 0.053 mSv, depending on the month of the visit, while the effective dose for a 3-hour research visit to Šparožna Cave was estimated between 0.029 and 1.28 mSv. These results may help to provide recommendations for limiting the length of stay of employees and visitors in the investigated caves.

查看原文本刊更多论文

克罗地亚Primorsko-goranska县洞穴中的氡水平及对游客和导游的有效剂量评估。

氡是一种天然辐射源，也是导致肺癌的主要原因之一。由于氡是镭衰变的产物，它从土壤和岩石中泄漏，并经常在封闭的空间中积聚。洞穴以氡浓度高而闻名，特别是在某些气象条件下，洞穴内的空气循环较弱。本文介绍了克罗地亚Šparožna溶洞和Biserujka溶洞的氡监测结果。连续14个月测量每个洞穴的氡浓度。两个洞穴的月平均浓度均表现出明显的季节特征，夏季浓度明显较高。在Šparožna溶洞的部分监测时段，还可以观察到浓度的日变化。Biserujka洞穴测得的最高氡浓度为16 kBq/m3， Šparožna洞穴测得的最大值为47 kBq/m3，是克罗地亚所有洞穴中测得的最高氡浓度。根据访问月份的不同，对比塞鲁伊卡进行30分钟旅游访问的有效剂量估计在0.015至0.053毫西弗之间，而对Šparožna洞穴进行3小时研究访问的有效剂量估计在0.029至1.28毫西弗之间。这些结果可能有助于为限制雇员和游客在被调查洞穴中的停留时间提供建议。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Radiation and Environmental Biophysics 环境科学-核医学

CiteScore

4.00

自引率

5.90%

发文量

审稿时长

>36 weeks

期刊介绍： This journal is devoted to fundamental and applied issues in radiation research and biophysics. The topics may include: Biophysics of ionizing radiation: radiation physics and chemistry, radiation dosimetry, radiobiology, radioecology, biophysical foundations of medical applications of radiation, and radiation protection. Biological effects of radiation: experimental or theoretical work on molecular or cellular effects; relevance of biological effects for risk assessment; biological effects of medical applications of radiation; relevance of radiation for biosphere and in space; modelling of ecosystems; modelling of transport processes of substances in biotic systems. Risk assessment: epidemiological studies of cancer and non-cancer effects; quantification of risk including exposures to radiation and confounding factors Contributions to these topics may include theoretical-mathematical and experimental material, as well as description of new techniques relevant for the study of these issues. They can range from complex radiobiological phenomena to issues in health physics and environmental protection.