The Association between Indoor Radon and Tobacco Smoke

Radium-226 is a significant source of the gas radon-222 which may enter buildings through soil, construction materials or water supply. When cigarette smoke is present, the daughter isotopes resulting from its decay attach to smoke particles. Thus, the alpha radiation dose to a smoker's lungs is increased. To discover whether the cigarette tobacco itself is a potential source of indoor radon the level of radon and thoron from radioactive decay were measured in ten different cigarette tobacco samples using CR-39 solid state nuclear track detectors (SSNTDs). The results showed that the 220,222Rn concentrations in these samples ranged from 128 to 266Bqm 3 and 49 to 148Bqm 3, respectively. The radon concentrations from all samples investigated were significantly higher than the background level. From these values a possible annual equivalent dose from use of these tobaccos were determined. Measurement of the indoor radon and thoron concentrations in 20 café rooms was (significantly) higher than in 20 smoking-free residential houses (p 0.001, p 0.001, respectively).