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Article

Radon Spatial Variations in University’s Buildings Located in an Italian Karst Region

by
Federica Leonardi
1,
Teresa Botti
1,*,
Giuliana Buresti
1,
Anna Paola Caricato
2,
Alberto Chezzi
3,
Carlo Pepe
3,
Sabina Spagnolo
3,
Sabrina Tonnarini
1,
Miriam Veschetti
1 and
Rosabianca Trevisi
1
1
National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL), DiMEILA Department, Monte Porzio Catone, 00078 Rome, Italy
2
Department of Mathematics and Physics “E. De Giorgi”, University of Salento and National Institute of Nucler Physics (INFN) Section of Lecce, 73100 Lecce, Italy
3
SPP-Prevention and Protection Service, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Atmosphere 2021, 12(8), 1048; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12081048
Submission received: 12 July 2021 / Revised: 5 August 2021 / Accepted: 10 August 2021 / Published: 15 August 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Atmospheric Radon Measurements, Control, Mitigation and Management)
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Abstract

In the framework of a collaboration between INAIL and University of Salento, an indoor radon survey in 54 buildings belonging to the UniSalento University (Southeast Italy) was carried out. The monitored buildings differ by type, construction period, materials, etc., and are located in an area with a morphology characterized mainly by marls, calcareous marls, and calcarenites (karst area). The sample of the survey includes 963 rooms at different floors: it consists in rooms mainly located at ground floor (67%), first floor (12%), and below ground (12%). SSNTD passive dosimeters measured the average radon activity concentration for two consecutive semesters (spring/summer and autumn/winter) from which annual radon averages were estimated for each room. The spatial variability within buildings was investigated in terms of variation between floors and among rooms at the same floor. Data analysis provides evidence that the distributions (in terms of arithmetic mean, standard deviation, median, and geometric mean) of indoor radon annual averages at ground floor and at first floor within building are very similar. This highlights that the karstic characteristics of soil and building materials affect radon levels not only below ground and at ground floor, but also at first floor. Moreover, to evaluate the spatial variability of radon among buildings or floors, the analysis of the distribution of coefficient of variation (CV) was carried out: the results show a low spatial variability with median and average values of CVs ≤ 30% both for the whole building and at different floor levels.
Keywords: radon; karst area; indoor radon survey; spatial variability radon; karst area; indoor radon survey; spatial variability

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Leonardi, F.; Botti, T.; Buresti, G.; Caricato, A.P.; Chezzi, A.; Pepe, C.; Spagnolo, S.; Tonnarini, S.; Veschetti, M.; Trevisi, R. Radon Spatial Variations in University’s Buildings Located in an Italian Karst Region. Atmosphere 2021, 12, 1048. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12081048

AMA Style

Leonardi F, Botti T, Buresti G, Caricato AP, Chezzi A, Pepe C, Spagnolo S, Tonnarini S, Veschetti M, Trevisi R. Radon Spatial Variations in University’s Buildings Located in an Italian Karst Region. Atmosphere. 2021; 12(8):1048. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12081048

Chicago/Turabian Style

Leonardi, Federica, Teresa Botti, Giuliana Buresti, Anna Paola Caricato, Alberto Chezzi, Carlo Pepe, Sabina Spagnolo, Sabrina Tonnarini, Miriam Veschetti, and Rosabianca Trevisi. 2021. "Radon Spatial Variations in University’s Buildings Located in an Italian Karst Region" Atmosphere 12, no. 8: 1048. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12081048

APA Style

Leonardi, F., Botti, T., Buresti, G., Caricato, A. P., Chezzi, A., Pepe, C., Spagnolo, S., Tonnarini, S., Veschetti, M., & Trevisi, R. (2021). Radon Spatial Variations in University’s Buildings Located in an Italian Karst Region. Atmosphere, 12(8), 1048. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12081048

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