Document Type : Short Report
Authors
- S. M. J. Mortazavi 1
- F. Jamali 2
- J. Moradgholi 3
- A. R. Mehdizadeh 4
- R. Faghihi 5
- S. Mehdizadeh 5
- M. Haghani 6
- M. Saieedi 5
- S. A. Mortazavi 7
- M. R. Ghanbar-pour 5
1 Professor of Medical Physics, Department of Medical Physics and Medical Engineering, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
2 Master Student, Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
3 Ph.D student of nanomaterials, Department of Materials Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran.
4 Assistant Professor of Medical Physics, Department of Medical Physics and Medical Engineering, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
5 Radiation Research Center, Mechanical Engineering School, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.
6 The Center for Radiological Research, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
7 Urban Designing Department, Islamic Azad University (Beiza Branch), Fars, Iran.
Abstract
Background: Ramsar, a northern city in Iran, lies on the coast of the Caspian Sea. This city has areas with some of the highest levels of natural radiation measured to date. The radon concentration in some areas of Ramsar is up to 3700 Bq m–3. On the other hand, due to high level of humidity, damp-proof barriers should be used in construction of new buildings in radon prone areas of this city. Montmorillonite clays can be used as both moisture-proof and radon-proof agents. This study was an attempt to investigate the radon-proof properties of montmorillonite nanoclay in construction of new buildings in radon prone areas.Methods and Results: Although soaked nanoclay samples could not reduce the radon level, when wet nano-montmorillonite was used, mean radon level inside the house was 1082.4 ± 5.9 Bq/m3 (ranged 826.3 – 11.40.5 Bq/m3) while removing nano-montmorillonite sheet increased the radon level to 1146.5 ± 6.2 Bq/m3. The high moisture in the soil of these areas, makes the nano-montmorillonite wet and converts it to a good radon-proof sheet.Conclusion: It is worth mentioning that the nano-montmorillonite clay used in this study is not supposed to replace radon-barrier (membrane) sheets but when used with proper membranes can enhance the efficiency of radon mitigation systems.
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