Gyeonggi Health and Environment Research Institute, Free Radon Measurement in 50 Apartment Households in the Province

by Lee YeongKyu

Published 10 Feb.2024 12:16(KST)

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

Gyeonggi Province will conduct free radon testing for apartment complexes.

The Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment announced on the 10th that it will select 150 households in 50 apartment complexes without mandatory measurement requirements to conduct free radon testing in order to alleviate residents' anxiety about the carcinogen radon. Gyeonggi Province has been providing a "free radon testing service" since 2020.

The test is conducted using the "long-term measurement method," which involves attaching a radon detection device to the living room of the measured household for more than 90 days, then collecting it and calculating the radon concentration using a radon analyzer.

This method has the advantage of measuring radon in actual living environments without causing inconvenience to residents, unlike the 48-hour sealed short-term continuous measurement method used for newly built apartment complexes. The 50 complexes targeted for testing this year were pre-selected through city and county offices.

Previously, the measurement results for 146 households in 51 complexes in 2023 showed an average concentration of 57.7 Bq/㎥, with 3 households (2.1% of the total) exceeding the recommended radon level for newly built apartment complexes (148 Bq/㎥), measuring between 150.6 and 154.7 Bq/㎥.

The current "Indoor Air Quality Control Act" recommends that constructors measure indoor air quality for apartment complexes approved for construction plans after January 1, 2018, but there are no legal measurement obligations or separate recommended standards for those approved before that date. Since radon contamination levels vary depending on the ventilation of each household even within the same complex, households exceeding the radon recommended level were advised to ventilate more frequently to reduce radon levels.

The average radon concentration in the first half of the year (February to May) was 63.3 Bq/㎥, and in the second half (September to December) it was 53.8 Bq/㎥, indicating that radon levels measured under real living conditions (long-term measurement method) are influenced by ventilation frequency and duration.

Additionally, since regular ventilation can significantly reduce the risk of radon exposure, informational brochures on "Indoor Environment Management including Radon in Apartment Complexes" were distributed to the measured households, city and county offices, and apartment management offices.

Hong Sun-mo, head of the Fine Dust Research Department at the Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment, stated, "We will strive to provide more free living environment services to alleviate residents' concerns about radon in apartment complexes and improve the quality of life for our residents."