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      Radon concentration in conventional and new energy efficient multi-storey apartment houses: results of survey in four Russian cities

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          Abstract

          During last decades, energy saving in new buildings became relevant within the energy efficiency strategies in various countries. Such energy efficient building characteristics as air tightening and low ventilation can compromise indoor air quality, in particular, increase radon concentration. In Russia, a significant part of the new buildings is the energy efficient multi-storey apartment houses. The aim of this study is to assess the significance of possible radon concentration increase in new energy efficient buildings in comparison with typical conventional multi-storey houses of previous periods. Radon surveys were conducted in Russian cities Ekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Saint-Petersburg and Krasnodar. The radon measurements were carried out in 478 flats using CR-39 nuclear track detectors. Energy efficiency index (EEI) was assigned to each house. All buildings were divided into six main categories. The smallest average radon concentration was observed in panel and brick houses built according to standard projects of 1970–1990 (four-city average 21 Bq/m 3). The highest average radon concentration and EEI were observed in new energy efficient buildings (49 Bq/m 3). The trend of radon increase in buildings ranked with high EEI index is observed in all cities. The potential increase of radiation exposure in energy-efficient buildings should be analyzed taking into account the principles of radiological protection.

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          Paris Agreement climate proposals need a boost to keep warming well below 2 °C.

          The Paris climate agreement aims at holding global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and to "pursue efforts" to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. To accomplish this, countries have submitted Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) outlining their post-2020 climate action. Here we assess the effect of current INDCs on reducing aggregate greenhouse gas emissions, its implications for achieving the temperature objective of the Paris climate agreement, and potential options for overachievement. The INDCs collectively lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to where current policies stand, but still imply a median warming of 2.6-3.1 degrees Celsius by 2100. More can be achieved, because the agreement stipulates that targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are strengthened over time, both in ambition and scope. Substantial enhancement or over-delivery on current INDCs by additional national, sub-national and non-state actions is required to maintain a reasonable chance of meeting the target of keeping warming well below 2 degrees Celsius.
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            Radon in homes and risk of lung cancer: collaborative analysis of individual data from 13 European case-control studies.

            To determine the risk of lung cancer associated with exposure at home to the radioactive disintegration products of naturally occurring radon gas. Collaborative analysis of individual data from 13 case-control studies of residential radon and lung cancer. Nine European countries. 7148 cases of lung cancer and 14,208 controls. Relative risks of lung cancer and radon gas concentrations in homes inhabited during the previous 5-34 years measured in becquerels (radon disintegrations per second) per cubic metre (Bq/m3) of household air. The mean measured radon concentration in homes of people in the control group was 97 Bq/m3, with 11% measuring > 200 and 4% measuring > 400 Bq/m3. For cases of lung cancer the mean concentration was 104 Bq/m3. The risk of lung cancer increased by 8.4% (95% confidence interval 3.0% to 15.8%) per 100 Bq/m3 increase in measured radon (P = 0.0007). This corresponds to an increase of 16% (5% to 31%) per 100 Bq/m3 increase in usual radon--that is, after correction for the dilution caused by random uncertainties in measuring radon concentrations. The dose-response relation seemed to be linear with no threshold and remained significant (P = 0.04) in analyses limited to individuals from homes with measured radon < 200 Bq/m3. The proportionate excess risk did not differ significantly with study, age, sex, or smoking. In the absence of other causes of death, the absolute risks of lung cancer by age 75 years at usual radon concentrations of 0, 100, and 400 Bq/m3 would be about 0.4%, 0.5%, and 0.7%, respectively, for lifelong non-smokers, and about 25 times greater (10%, 12%, and 16%) for cigarette smokers. Collectively, though not separately, these studies show appreciable hazards from residential radon, particularly for smokers and recent ex-smokers, and indicate that it is responsible for about 2% of all deaths from cancer in Europe.
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              Residential radon and risk of lung cancer: a combined analysis of 7 North American case-control studies.

              Underground miners exposed to high levels of radon have an excess risk of lung cancer. Residential exposure to radon is at much lower levels, and the risk of lung cancer with residential exposure is less clear. We conducted a systematic analysis of pooled data from all North American residential radon studies. The pooling project included original data from 7 North American case-control studies, all of which used long-term alpha-track detectors to assess residential radon concentrations. A total of 3662 cases and 4966 controls were retained for the analysis. We used conditional likelihood regression to estimate the excess risk of lung cancer. Odds ratios (ORs) for lung cancer increased with residential radon concentration. The estimated OR after exposure to radon at a concentration of 100 Bq/m3 in the exposure time window 5 to 30 years before the index date was 1.11 (95% confidence interval = 1.00-1.28). This estimate is compatible with the estimate of 1.12 (1.02-1.25) predicted by downward extrapolation of the miner data. There was no evidence of heterogeneity of radon effects across studies. There was no apparent heterogeneity in the association by sex, educational level, type of respondent (proxy or self), or cigarette smoking, although there was some evidence of a decreasing radon-associated lung cancer risk with age. Analyses restricted to subsets of the data with presumed more accurate radon dosimetry resulted in increased estimates of risk. These results provide direct evidence of an association between residential radon and lung cancer risk, a finding predicted using miner data and consistent with results from animal and in vitro studies.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                ivy@ecko.uran.ru
                Journal
                Sci Rep
                Sci Rep
                Scientific Reports
                Nature Publishing Group UK (London )
                2045-2322
                22 October 2020
                22 October 2020
                2020
                : 10
                : 18136
                Affiliations
                GRID grid.426536.0, ISNI 0000 0004 1760 306X, Institute of Industrial Ecology, , Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, ; S. Kovalevskoy St., 20, Ekaterinburg, Russia 620219
                Article
                75274
                10.1038/s41598-020-75274-4
                7581716
                33093632
                bf8dad91-bb4f-4fdd-b850-922c1f6eda8d
                © The Author(s) 2020

                Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

                History
                : 15 June 2020
                : 14 October 2020
                Funding
                Funded by: Russian Science Foundation
                Award ID: 19-19-00191
                Award ID: 19-19-00191
                Award ID: 19-19-00191
                Award ID: 19-19-00191
                Award ID: 19-19-00191
                Award ID: 19-19-00191
                Award Recipient :
                Categories
                Article
                Custom metadata
                © The Author(s) 2020

                Uncategorized
                atmospheric chemistry,energy and society,risk factors
                Uncategorized
                atmospheric chemistry, energy and society, risk factors

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