Professor Glover, from the School of Earth and Environment, said: “Radon is known to be the second most important cause of lung cancer after smoking. Smoking also exacerbates radon-acquired lung cancer rates by about 26 times, and smoking is up to 4.4 times more prevalent in Arctic communities.
“Consequently, an unexpected plume of radon could represent a dangerous health hazard if it is not planned for. Fortunately, simply-installed ventilation is all that is often required if the problem is recognised.
“If the permafrost were stable, there would be no cause to be concerned. However, it is now widely recognised that climate change is leading to significant thawing of permafrost, with a 42% expected loss of permafrost in the Arctic Circumpolar Permafrost Region (ACPR) by 2050.
“The radon can then pass through the permafrost and lead to a plume of radioactive gas within buildings that take several years to peak and many more to dissipate.”
The Earth’s Future publication suggests that thawing of the permafrost barrier produces no increase in radon compared to the background level for traditionally- constructed buildings in the Arctic community, which are built on piles.
For buildings with basements, permafrost thaw can result in the radon concentration remaining greater than the 200 becquerel per cubic metre (Bq/m3) value, that many nations use as an action threshold, for up to seven years depending on the depth of the permafrost and the thaw rate.
Professor Paul Glover, School of Earth
and Environment
Professor Glover added: “Our results show clearly that the pent-up reservoir of radon can be released into the basements of buildings over a long period and will remain above radiation action levels for four to seven years.
“Since there has been no perceived historical radon problem in these communities and the gas itself is undetectable without specialist devices, we regard this as an important and totally avoidable threat to the health of the northern communities.”
Professor Glover stresses that these are initial results that have had to include many assumptions, not least because there is a significant lack of data about petrophysical properties of Arctic soil and permafrost.
It is possible that radon will find efficient pathways to the surface through both advection and diffusion and along zones of preferential thawing while the bulk of the permafrost thaws more slowly.
Professor Glover is part of the internationally respected Institute of Applied Geoscience and Petrophysics and Geomechanics group. Their work includes the theory, modelling, measurement and applications of Earth materials and processes. He was the founder and first President of the Energy, Resources and the Environment division of the European Geophysical Union.
Further information
Top image: Airbus A380 arrives for cold weather testing – Iqaluit, Nanuvut, Canada. Credit: Northern Pix, creative commons cc-by-2.0
The paper “Increased Radon Exposure from Thawing of Permafrost Due to Climate Change” is published in Earth’s Future, February 08, 2022 (DOI: 10.1029/2021EF002598)
For additional information contact the University of Leeds press office at [email protected].
Professor Glover added: “Our results show clearly that the pent-up reservoir of radon can be released into the basements of buildings over a long period and will remain above radiation action levels for four to seven years.
“Since there has been no perceived historical radon problem in these communities and the gas itself is undetectable without specialist devices, we regard this as an important and totally avoidable threat to the health of the northern communities.”
Professor Glover stresses that these are initial results that have had to include many assumptions, not least because there is a significant lack of data about petrophysical properties of Arctic soil and permafrost.
It is possible that radon will find efficient pathways to the surface through both advection and diffusion and along zones of preferential thawing while the bulk of the permafrost thaws more slowly.
Professor Glover is part of the internationally respected Institute of Applied Geoscience and Petrophysics and Geomechanics group. Their work includes the theory, modelling, measurement and applications of Earth materials and processes. He was the founder and first President of the Energy, Resources and the Environment division of the European Geophysical Union.
Further information
Top image: Airbus A380 arrives for cold weather testing – Iqaluit, Nanuvut, Canada. Credit: Northern Pix, creative commons cc-by-2.0
The paper “Increased Radon Exposure from Thawing of Permafrost Due to Climate Change” is published in Earth’s Future, February 08, 2022
(DOI: 10.1029/2021EF002598)
For additional information contact the University of Leeds press office at [email protected].
https://www.leeds.ac.uk/main-index/news/article/5015/thawing-permafrost-could-release-cancer-causing-gas
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