Indoor radon measurement in the city of Edirne, Turkey

This study assesses the indoor radon concentrations for the city of Edirne situated in the European part of Turkey (Eastern Thrace). A total of 88 CR-39 nuclear track detectors were kept in basements of the selected apartment buildings and houses for passively determining the indoor radon levels of the dwellings for a period of three months. The detectors were then collected and a chemical process of etching was applied to the films. At this stage, the tracks left by alpha particles on the films exposed to radon gas were visible and were counted with a microscope (500x magnification) to estimate the corresponding indoor radon concentrations. The average indoor radon concentration was found to be 49.2 Bq/m3 equivalent to an annual effective dose of 1.24 mSv. The measurement results obtained in this study show no significant departure from the other parts of the country.