Awareness and action on radon have grown in the nearly 16 years since the WHO first surveyed countries as part of the WHO International Radon Project, and much is still needed to be done for most countries to achieve radon concentrations at or below the WHO recommended reference level of 100 Bq/m3 if possible, or at least not to exceed the international recommended 300 Bq/m3
The World Health Organization recommends that countries adopt reference levels of the gas of 100 Bq/m3 (Becquerel per cubic metre). If this level cannot be implemented under the prevailing country-specific conditions, WHO recommends that the reference level should not exceed 300 Bq/m3.
It’s a crucial step towards reducing lung cancer risk worldwide, alongside global tobacco control activities and initiatives on healthy indoor air.
The 2019 survey forms the basis of newly launched WHO database on radon, which provides a detailed snapshot of efforts to manage the risk from radon exposure around the world.
The radon database, in turn, forms part of the Global Health Observatory, a comprehensive repository of current statistics and information on global health issues.
WHO’s first detailed survey on radon, which attracted responses from 36 member states, was conducted in 2005 as part of a three-year WHO International Radon Project, a collaboration across a global network of radon scientists, regulators and policy makers, which, among other aims, sought to create a global radon database and provide improved global estimates of the disease burden associated with radon worldwide.
The results of the project’s work fed into the WHO handbook on indoor radon: A public health perspective. The handbook, published in 2009, provides policy options to help national authorities to develop, promote and strengthen activities at country or regional level, covering measurement, prevention and mitigation, evaluating cost-effectiveness of radon control, risk communication and national radon programmes, as well as details of its health impacts.
https://www.who.int/news/item/04-02-2021-more-countries-act-against-exposure-to-radon-and-associated-cancer-risks
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NOTE: 1 becquerel = 27 picocuries.
1 picocurie = 0.037 becquerel.
Example:
convert 100 pCi to Bq: