The Spanish indoor radon mapping strategy

Indoor radon mapping still represents a valuable tool for drawing the picture of the exposure of general public due to radon and radon progeny inhalation in a residential context. The information provided by means of a map is useful not only as awareness and strategic element for authorities and policy-makers, but also as a scientific start-up point in the design of epidemiological and other specific studies on exposure to natural radiation. The requirements for a good mapping are related to harmonisation criteria coming from European recommendations, as well as to national/local characteristics and necessities. Around 12,000 indoor radon measurements have been made since the Spanish national radon programme began at the end of the 1980s. A significant proportion of them resulted from the last campaign performed from 2009 to 12. This campaign completed the first version of a map based on a grid 10 × 10 km(2). In this paper, the authors present the main results of a new map together with the criteria adopted to improve the number of measurements and the statistical significance of them.