Toxicity issues: Radon

Abstract

This chapter reviews literature on radon as a source of indoor air contamination. It shows that post-construction remediation like soil depressurization systems (SDS) seems to be more cost-effective than the use of protection measures installed during construction like radon-barrier membranes which have a significant failure rate. Since radon concentration is very dependent on the air change rate (ACH), it is important to maintain adequate air ventilation. However, in some situations, the cost of additional heating to eliminate the heat losses would exceed the total costs of remediation by soil ventilation as much as eightfold. This chapter also shows that there are optimum temperature and relative humidity which minimize radon levels.