Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, 775 Brookfield Road, Ottawa K1A 1C1, Canada.
Health Phys. 2023 Apr 1;124(4):244-256. doi: 10.1097/HP.0000000000001661. Epub 2023 Jan 5.
A worldwide review of radon exposure in non-uranium mines was conducted. Based on the reported radon measurements in a total of 474 underground non-uranium mines, the average radon concentration in underground non-uranium mines was calculated to be 570 Bq m -3 (varied from below detection limit to above 10,000 Bq m -3 ), and the average equilibrium factor between radon and its short-lived progeny was 0.34 (varied from 0.02 to 0.9). Using the average values from the review, annual effective radon doses to workers in Canadian non-uranium mines were estimated. For underground workers, the estimated annual effective radon dose to non-uranium miners was 3.8 mSv with the possibility of varying from 0.22 to 10 mSv depending on ventilation and other operation conditions. In Canada, the majority of mines are open-pit surface mines; only a small portion of the workforce in non-uranium mines physically work underground where radon concentration can be elevated. Averaged over the entire mining workforce, occupational exposure to radon in non-uranium mines is estimated to be 0.9 mSv. The results of this study indicate that there is potential for workers in non-uranium mines to reach or exceed Canadian thresholds for mandatory monitoring and reporting radiation doses, at least for underground operations.
对全球范围内非铀矿中的氡暴露情况进行了综述。根据总计 474 个地下非铀矿中的氡测量报告，计算出地下非铀矿中的氡平均浓度为 570 Bq m -3 （范围从探测下限至 10000 Bq m -3 以上），氡与其短寿命子体之间的平均平衡因子为 0.34（范围从 0.02 至 0.9）。利用综述中的平均值，估算了加拿大非铀矿中工人的年有效氡剂量。对于地下作业工人，估算的非铀矿工年有效氡剂量为 3.8 mSv，根据通风和其他作业条件的不同，可能在 0.22 至 10 mSv 之间变化。在加拿大，大多数矿山是露天地表矿山；只有一小部分非铀矿工人实际在地下作业，那里的氡浓度可能会升高。在整个采矿工人中，非铀矿中的氡职业照射估计为 0.9 mSv。本研究结果表明，非铀矿工人有可能达到或超过加拿大对强制性监测和报告辐射剂量的阈值，至少在地下作业中是如此。
