Indoor and soil radon measurements in Swaziland by track detectors

Solid state nuclear track detectors are increasingly being used for the measurements of time-integrated radon levels in soil and in dwellings under different conditions. CR-39 is very useful in the detection of alpha particles from disintegration of radon and radon daughters. Radon measurements are performed indoors and in the soil in a project supported by the University of Swaziland. The result of the radon measurements is based on 67 measurements in the ground and on 77 indoor measurements. Indoor radon concentrations varied from 21 to 180 Bq m−3 and soil gas radon concentration, at 1 m depth, from 2 to 8 kBq m−3. The arithmetic mean of the indoor radon is found to be 73 Bq m−3, geometric mean 63 Bq m−3; while the arithmetic mean of the soil radon gas is 4 kBq m−3. A positive correlation has been obtained between indoor radon concentration and the soil gas radon concentration.