Rey Joan F, Berlusconi Caterina, Pampuri Luca, Goyette Pernot Joëlle
Western Switzerland Center for Indoor Air Quality and Radon (croqAIR), Transform Institute, School of Engineering and Architecture of Fribourg, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, Fribourg, Switzerland.
Department of Environment Constructions and Design (DACD), Radon Competence Centre (CCR), University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI), Manno, Switzerland.
Front Public Health. 2025 Aug 22;13:1625922. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1625922. eCollection 2025.
Since the 1980s, radon has been recognized as a public health concern in Switzerland and internationally. In an effort to more accurately estimate the number of lung cancer cases attributable to radon exposure, Swiss health authorities initiated the creation of radon measurements into a centralized national database. As of 2025, this database comprises approximately 300,000 measurements from 150,000 buildings across the country. This study aims (1) to provide a statistical characterization of the Swiss National Radon Database, including temporal and structural aspects (e.g., number of measurements, measurement duration), and (2) to identify key environmental and anthropogenic factors influencing indoor radon concentrations, using various national datasets (e.g., geology, hydrology, climate, seismicity, soil chemistry, building characteristics). Results indicate that elevated indoor radon levels are primarily associated with the presence of uranium-rich geological formations and fault zones, particularly within karstic environments. Among building-related parameters, older constructions and lower floor levels are linked to higher radon concentrations, while building type appears to have minimal influence. Moreover, a negative correlation was observed between measurement duration and radon levels, suggesting that shorter measurements tend to overestimate long-term exposure and raising questions regarding the annual representativeness. This study provides a comprehensive overview of radon distribution patterns and their determinants, offering valuable insights for researchers and public health authorities. It contributes to the development of evidence-based strategies for radon risk assessment, management, and mitigation, both within Switzerland and in comparable international contexts.
自20世纪80年代以来，氡已在瑞士及国际上被公认为一个公共卫生问题。为了更准确地估计因接触氡而导致的肺癌病例数量，瑞士卫生当局开始将氡测量数据纳入一个集中的国家数据库。截至2025年，该数据库包含来自全国15万栋建筑物的约30万次测量数据。本研究旨在：（1）对瑞士国家氡数据库进行统计特征描述，包括时间和结构方面（如测量次数、测量持续时间）；（2）利用各种国家数据集（如地质、水文、气候、地震活动、土壤化学、建筑特征），确定影响室内氡浓度的关键环境和人为因素。结果表明，室内氡水平升高主要与富含铀的地质构造和断层带的存在有关，特别是在岩溶环境中。在与建筑相关的参数中，较旧的建筑和较低的楼层与较高的氡浓度有关，而建筑类型的影响似乎最小。此外，还观察到测量持续时间与氡水平之间存在负相关，这表明较短的测量往往会高估长期暴露情况，并引发了关于年度代表性的问题。本研究全面概述了氡的分布模式及其决定因素，为研究人员和公共卫生当局提供了有价值的见解。它有助于制定基于证据的氡风险评估、管理和缓解策略，无论是在瑞士还是在类似的国际背景下。
