Journal of environmental radioactivity最新文献

{"title":"Soil-to-river Cesium-137 transfer in a catchment coupling the SWAT model and a mass balance equation","authors":"François Guillory ,&nbsp;Hugo Lepage ,&nbsp;Sabine Sauvage ,&nbsp;José-Miguel Sánchez ,&nbsp;Clément Fabre ,&nbsp;Patrick Boyer ,&nbsp;David Mourrier","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107849","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107849","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nuclear accidents and atmospheric tests have released large quantities of radionuclides into the environment. Among them, Cesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs) is of major concern due to its long-term persistence. To support post-accidental management, predictive tools are needed to assess its environmental transfers. This study presents a novel approach to simulate the transfer of ¹³⁷Cs from soils to the river outlet in a watershed impacted by radioactive atmospheric fallout. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was coupled with a trace metal transfer equation to simulate daily concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs in suspended sediments in the Ardèche watershed (2138 km², France). The total ¹³⁷Cs stock in soils was estimated at 7.7 TBq based on a soil sampling campaign. Modelled ¹³⁷Cs concentrations range from 0 to 43.0 Bq kg⁻¹, whereas measured values range from 3.5 to 20.1 Bq kg⁻¹. The discrepancies are mainly due to limitations in SSC observations used for model calibration, as well as the particle-trap sampling method, which tends to underestimate the actual concentrations. Moreover, results indicate that 83 % of the annual ¹³⁷Cs transport occurs in the particulate phase with 75 % of the total annual ¹³⁷Cs flux at the outlet exported during the top 10 % highest flow days. On average, 263.0 GBq y⁻¹ of ¹³⁷Cs are eroded from the watershed soils, the river exports 1.62 GBq y⁻¹ of ¹³⁷Cs at the outlet and stores 256.0 GBq y⁻¹ within the river itself and floodplain. This corresponds to an annual export of only 0.02 % of the total ¹³⁷Cs soil stock.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"291 ","pages":"Article 107849"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145445101","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"RULES: Free desktop application to perform activity calculations and radiometric dating","authors":"M. Martínez-Rojas ,&nbsp;J. Mantero ,&nbsp;M. García-León","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107857","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107857","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Calculation of activities and radiometric dating through radioactive series may lead to long or non-explicit mathematical expressions. Thus, dedicated software is required to help solve related questions. RULES (RaPCUBES, URADS and LEADS Encompassed Software) is a new computer application dedicated to calculating activities and populations for radionuclides that belong to the four radioactive series (&lt;sup&gt;238&lt;/sup&gt;U, &lt;sup&gt;235&lt;/sup&gt;U, &lt;sup&gt;232&lt;/sup&gt;Th and &lt;sup&gt;237&lt;/sup&gt;Np) and performing dating estimations using methods based on disequilibria between isotopes within the &lt;sup&gt;238&lt;/sup&gt;U family.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;RULES contains three different tools.&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span&gt;-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;div&gt;RaPCUBES: Radioactivity and Population Calculator Using Bateman Equations' Solutions.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span&gt;-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;div&gt;URADS: Uranium Routines Application for Dating Samples through &lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;mrow&gt;&lt;mi&gt;R&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/mrow&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt; or &lt;sup&gt;234&lt;/sup&gt;U/&lt;sup&gt;238&lt;/sup&gt;U and &lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;mrow&gt;&lt;mi&gt;T&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/mrow&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt; or &lt;sup&gt;230&lt;/sup&gt;Th/&lt;sup&gt;234&lt;/sup&gt;U methods.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span&gt;-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;div&gt;LEADS: Lead Employed Approaches for Dating Sediments through &lt;sup&gt;210&lt;/sup&gt;Pb simplest physical models, i.e., CA (Constant Activity), CS (Constant Sedimentation), CF (Constant Flux) and CFCS (Constant Flux Constant Sedimentation).&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span&gt;-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;div&gt;RaPCUBES: Radioactivity and Population Calculator Using Bateman Equations' Solutions.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span&gt;-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;div&gt;URADS: Uranium Routines Application for Dating Samples through &lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;mrow&gt;&lt;mi&gt;R&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/mrow&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt; or &lt;sup&gt;234&lt;/sup&gt;U/&lt;sup&gt;238&lt;/sup&gt;U and &lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;mrow&gt;&lt;mi&gt;T&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/mrow&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt; or &lt;sup&gt;230&lt;/sup&gt;Th/&lt;sup&gt;234&lt;/sup&gt;U methods.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span&gt;-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;div&gt;LEADS: Lead Employed Approaches for Dating Sediments through &lt;sup&gt;210&lt;/sup&gt;Pb simplest physical models, i.e., CA (Constant Activity), CS (Constant Sedimentation), CF (Constant Flux) and CFCS (Constant Flux Constant Sedimentation).&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;RULES has been programmed in the environment of MATLAB's AppDesigner (v. 2021b), with a database built in Microsoft Excel. It is available as completely free software via e-mail request and Manuel Martínez Rojas' profile at idUS (Research Repository of the University of Seville). Only the 9.11 version of MATLAB's Runtime is required. This does not need MATLAB's license to operate and makes the installation process straightforward through a unique link. Also, as a desktop application, RULES is able to work offline.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;RULES's main purpose is to provide simple-to-use software that encompasses three different tools of interest with intuitive user interfaces, so no programming knowledge is required to use the application. Also, novel revised propagation of uncertainties is implemented at all levels of the calculation processes. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that RULES perform","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"291 ","pages":"Article 107857"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145568722","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Land-cover-based indoor gamma-ray dose after a nuclear accident: location factor mapping via Monte Carlo simulation, GIS, and remote sensing","authors":"Xibo Ma ,&nbsp;Zheng Wang ,&nbsp;Yasuyuki Ishida ,&nbsp;Hikaru Kobayashi","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107853","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107853","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Long-term indoor dose prediction is critical for health risk assessment and disaster management of accidental radionuclide releases. The gamma rays emitted from the ground deposition of ¹³⁷Cs are the primary concern in this context. This deposition exhibits variations in the relative initial source strength, ecological half-life, and vertical migration depending on the ground material. The dose response is further influenced by the attenuation within the ground, air, and building structures. Therefore, evaluating indoor doses in complex urban environments is challenging, particularly when accounting for directional variations in factors such as building density and ground materials. To address this issue, this study draws on the Local Climate Zone (LCZ) concept to propose a universal urban classification method suited to areas with mixed land cover and low-rise detached wooden structures, such as Fukushima. Monte Carlo simulations are then used to identify time-dependent indoor dose location factors across various environment type combinations. A mapping approach referencing LCZ recognition is developed using geographic information systems and remote sensing.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"291 ","pages":"Article 107853"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145463103","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cs, Ba, Co, and Eu sorption on biotite - experiments at ambient temperature and modelling","authors":"Pawan Kumar,&nbsp;Stellan Holgersson,&nbsp;Christian Ekberg","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107884","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107884","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The sorption of ¹³⁴Cs, ¹³³Ba, ⁶⁰Co and ¹⁵²Eu onto crushed biotite mineral of size fraction 0.25–0.5 mm at pH 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 with pH-buffered solutions of 0.001, 0.01 and 0.1 M NaClO₄ were investigated. Experimental data was collected by both batch sorption and potentiometric titrations, together with measurements of the acidic site density and cation exchange capacity of the biotite. Titrations gave biotite surface <em>pK</em>_<em>a1</em> = −4.9 ± 0.1 and <em>pK</em>_<em>a2</em> = −7.1 ± 0.2. Batch sorption results show that sorption of all radionuclides is highly dependent on pH. In general sorption increase with pH, but for Co its aqueous hydroxide complexes compete with sorption at pH values &gt; 8 while for Eu, this competition starts at pH &gt; 7. Sorption of both Cs and Ba is strongly dependent on ionic strength, Eu shows an intermediate response while Co was found to be insensitive to this parameter. The measured apparent <em>R</em>_<em>d</em> values were found to increase with time, presumably due to in-diffusion. Therefore, equilibrium <em>R</em>_<em>d</em> was evaluated with a new model for diffusion into porous particles. A non-electrostatic Surface Complexation Model (SCM) was applied on the sorption data and the reaction constants were evaluated in a computation process which couples the PHREEQC chemical speciation program with an iterative error minimization routine. The sorption onto biotite of all four tracer elements was successfully modelled with a combination of one amphoteric 2-<em>pK</em><strong>_<em>a</em></strong> surface complexation site and one ion exchange site. The results show that the <em>R</em>_<em>d</em>-values may vary up to two orders of magnitude, depending on tracer element and water conditions. Such large changes should be considered in the safety evaluation of a repository in granitic rock, more specifically for scenarios where groundwater composition is expected to change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"292 ","pages":"Article 107884"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145862449","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Operations of a pumped storage power plant attenuated radioactive Cs concentration in kokanee stocked in the upper reservoir","authors":"Atsushi Hirano ,&nbsp;Hidenori Kagamifuchi ,&nbsp;Ken Koyabu ,&nbsp;Koichi Takizawa ,&nbsp;Yuichi Onda","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107827","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107827","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the seasonal variation in radioactive cesium (sum of ′134Cs and ′137Cs; hereafter radioactive Cs) concentrations in kokanee (<em>Oncorhynchus nerka</em>) within a pumped-storage power plant reservoir system, with particular focus on the marked decline in radioactive Cs levels during plant operation. Radioactive Cs transfer pathways to kokanee were examined in relation to water residence time, vertical temperature profiles, and water quality under operational and non-operational conditions. Two primary pathways originating from the contaminated forest surrounding the reservoir were identified. The first involves suspended detritus, primarily decomposed forest litter, which accumulates at the thermocline and facilitates Cs transfer to kokanee via interactions with plankton. The second pathway involves detritus deposited on the lakebed, consumed by chironomids, which serve as prey for kokanee. Radioactive Cs concentrations in chironomids were higher than those in plankton, suggesting that seasonal dietary shifts in kokanee contribute to observed variations in radioactive Cs accumulation. Power plant operations can transport part of the contaminated detritus accumulated at the thermocline out of the lake, thereby inhibiting its sedimentation on the lake bottom, reducing radioactive Cs availability to lower trophic organisms, and resulting in a marked reduction of radioactive Cs concentrations in kokanee. These findings highlight the influence of anthropogenic operations on Cs dynamics in aquatic ecosystems and have important implications for ecological risk assessment and the management of radiological contamination.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"291 ","pages":"Article 107827"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145258377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating overestimated radon risk in predictive maps: A case study of cáceres municipality","authors":"Juan-José Tejado-Ramos ,&nbsp;Aitor Alvarez-Toral ,&nbsp;Javier Guillén","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107846","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107846","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Radon is recognised as the second most significant contributor to lung cancer incidence after smoking. Radon exposure to the general population usually takes place at home, where people spend a significant part of the day. Public policies have been established to achieve effective radon management based on radon maps, based either on indoor radon measurements or on soil properties. The Spanish predictive radon map is an example of the latter and is used to assess the potential radon risk. However, some areas present complex lithologies, such as Cáceres municipality, and are classified as a high radon risk area, with the 90^th percentile of the distribution (P₉₀) of indoor radon concentration higher than 400 Bq m⁻³. In this study, an indoor radon measurement campaign was carried out in all population settlements in Cáceres municipality, obtaining a log-normal indoor radon distribution with a geometric mean of 111 Bq m⁻³. The P₉₀ was 318 Bq m⁻³, slightly above the reference level of 300 Bq m⁻³. Indoor radon concentration depended on the lithology. Buildings located on a zone with limestone and slates from the Lower Carboniferous presented lower radon concentrations, whereas buildings located on weathered granites areas showed higher concentrations. Discrepancies between the P₉₀ value estimated in this study and that considered in the Spanish predictive radon map can be attributed to the fact that the latter considered all the area comprised by the municipality (mainly granitic); while we only considered the populated areas within it (located on various lithology types). Therefore, the Spanish predictive radon map can be considered as conservative and slightly overestimated the actual risk to radon exposure in the case study.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"291 ","pages":"Article 107846"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145445161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Incorporating civilian radioxenon background estimates in anomaly detection","authors":"Ramesh S. Sarathi ,&nbsp;Paul W. Eslinger ,&nbsp;Douglas J. Baxter ,&nbsp;Nipun Gunawardena ,&nbsp;Donald D. Lucas ,&nbsp;Michael F. Mayer ,&nbsp;Brian D. Milbrath ,&nbsp;Brian T. Schrom","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107829","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107829","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A nuclear explosion screening exercise in 2023 (Maurer et al., 2023) found challenges with discerning anomalous radioxenon activity concentrations relative to elevated background concentrations. Research has continued into methods to detect anomalous radioxenon concentrations by comparing samples to estimates of atmospheric radioxenon background concentrations caused by releases at nuclear reactors or medical isotope production facilities. A new approach estimates the sample concentrations using time-varying radioxenon release rates obtained using optimization techniques that constrain the facility release rates to plausible amounts based on historical data or facility knowledge. The purpose of the optimization is to determine whether any combination of plausible release rates from emitting facilities can explain a series of radioxenon measurements at one or more sampling stations. A case study uses radioxenon data collected at three locations in western Europe for a month in 2021 and considers releases from 77 locations. Fewer samples are identified as being anomalous using a simplistic flagging rule than from an application of the current International Monitoring System (IMS) activity concentration-level rule.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"291 ","pages":"Article 107829"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145223360","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"AI-driven real-time control of radiological contamination and personnel dose in nuclear transient scenarios","authors":"Behzad Khosrowpour,&nbsp;Vahid Jamshidi","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107838","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107838","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study presents an artificial intelligence (AI) system designed to optimize emergency responses during localized nuclear incidents involving containment breaches and gas filtration failures. The system integrates a feed-forward neural network (ANN) with optimization algorithms, including fmincon and ParticleSwarm Optimization (PSO), to manage critical parameters such as ventilation speed, activation timing, and personnel evacuation. A synthetic dataset of 3600 samples, simulating the dispersion of gamma and beta radiation, was generated using MATLAB. The ANN achieved a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.9876 and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.3421. The AI system reduced radioactive concentration by 15 % and cumulative effective dose by approximately 30 % (1.8 mSv vs. 2.5 mSv) compared to a baseline scenario (fixed ventilation at 2 m/s, evacuation at 30 min), representing the minimum operational ventilation speed per Table 3, chosen to represent a conservative, non-optimized response typical of manual procedures (IAEA, 2018). Personnel exposure was maintained at 1.8 mSv over 30 min, well below the IAEA occupational limit of 20 mSv/year (annual context only), with decision cycles completed in under 3 s. This framework demonstrates the feasibility of AI-driven real-time nuclear emergency management, offering improved decision-making over traditional methods while ensuring compliance with IAEA GSR Part 3 and Part 7 standards.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"291 ","pages":"Article 107838"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145390071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"238U and 234U relationships in groundwater of Itararé Group, São Paulo State, Brazil","authors":"Carlos Pinto Fracalossi ,&nbsp;Peter Christian Hackspacher ,&nbsp;Daniel Marcos Bonotto","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107881","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107881","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper describes a novel database for the dissolved uranium concentration and ²³⁴U/²³⁸U activity ratio (AR) in groundwater samples (16), with a focus on those occurring in the Itararé Group in São Paulo State, Brazil. Such a geological unit takes a major role in the multilayered Tubarão Aquifer System (TAS), which has been extensively exploited, primarily due to water use for industrial purposes, agriculture, and human consumption, which has resulted in a drastic lowering of the groundwater static level. As a consequence, efforts have been made by the use of different approaches to understand the processes related to the groundwater flow after infiltration in the recharge area, inclusive by the use of the natural U-isotopes ²³⁸U and ²³⁴U as reported in this paper. Therefore, hydrogeochemical diagrams utilizing both parameters (dissolved U concentration and AR) were constructed from data obtained by alpha spectrometry, aiming to find trends associated with the groundwater flow direction, as well as with processes involving the mixture of different water sources.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"292 ","pages":"Article 107881"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145787106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Participatory science to action: Radon literacy assessment and testing in an African American community","authors":"Dajun Dai ,&nbsp;Na’Taki Osborne Jelks ,&nbsp;Gwendylon P. Smith","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107842","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvrad.2025.107842","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Low radon testing rates in communities of color are health concerns with possible elevated lung cancer risks. Our objective was to use a participatory science approach to assess environmental health literacy specific to radon, i.e., radon literacy, and testing practices in a primarily African American community in Atlanta, Georgia. A leadership team of two academic researchers and a community organization leader engaged an intergenerational group of residents that included one adult team lead, three community elders, and three youth as community scientists, who contributed to research design, survey administration, radon testing, and results dissemination. From March to October 2022, 167 homeowners (87 % African American) participated in radon testing and at-home surveys. A total of 154 valid tests were obtained with a mean radon level of 126 Bq/m³ and a standard deviation of 100 Bq/m³. Radon levels exceeded the remediation threshold of 148 Bq/m³ in 43 homes (27.9 %). Primary recruitment methods were door-to-door canvassing (45 %) and personal referrals (29 %). While 76.9 % of participants were aware of what radon is, only 11.3 % had previously tested their homes. Over 40 % lacked knowledge about radon, and 88.1 % were unaware of remediation thresholds. Radon literacy was positively associated with higher educational attainment and connections with families and friends who had previously tested their homes for radon. It also tended to be higher among unmarried participants and in households without children or seniors. This study highlights the need for greater awareness and testing in African American communities. This project suggests that collaborative, community-led strategies could help raise testing rates and ultimately improve public health.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15667,"journal":{"name":"Journal of environmental radioactivity","volume":"291 ","pages":"Article 107842"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145355006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}