A Geostatistical Approach to Assess the Spatial Association between Indoor Radon Concentration, Geological Features and Building Characteristics: The Case of Lombardy, Northern Italy

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Riccardo Borgoni²  Valeria Tritto²  Carlo Bigliotto¹ 

[1] Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e Protezione Ambientale del Veneto—Department of Padova, Via Ospedale 22, 35121 Padova, Italy; E-Mail:;Department of Statistics, University of Milan-Bicocca, Via Bicocca degli Arcimboldi 8, 20126 Milan, Italy; E-Mail:

关键词: radon;    geostatistics;    kriging with external drift;    IRWGLS;    geological class;    building factors;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph8051420

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Radon is a natural gas known to be the main contributor to natural background radiation exposure and second to smoking, a major leading cause of lung cancer. The main source of radon is the soil, but the gas can enter buildings in many different ways and reach high indoor concentrations. Monitoring surveys have been promoted in many countries in order to assess the exposure of people to radon. In this paper, two complementary aspects are investigated. Firstly, we mapped indoor radon concentration in a large and inhomogeneous region using a geostatistical approach which borrows strength from the geologic nature of the soil. Secondly, knowing that geologic and anthropogenic factors, such as building characteristics, can foster the gas to flow into a building or protect against this, we evaluated these effects through a multiple regression model which takes into account the spatial correlation of the data. This allows us to rank different building typologies, identified by architectonic and geological characteristics, according to their proneness to radon. Our results suggest the opportunity to differentiate construction requirements in a large and inhomogeneous area, as the one considered in this paper, according to different places and provide a method to identify those dwellings which should be monitored more carefully.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.