Unusually high indoor radon concentrations from a giant rock slide

In a village in western Tyrol, Austria (Umhausen, approximately 2600 inhabitants) unusually high indoor radon concentrations were measured. The medians were found to be 3750 Bq/m3 (basements) and 1160 Bq/m3 (ground floors) in winter, and 361 Bq/m3 (basements) and 210 Bq/m3 (ground floors) in summer. Maximum radon concentrations of up to 274,000 Bq/m3 were registered. The unusually high radon concentrations are due to the geology of the locality. The part of Umhausen with the highest radon concentrations is built on an alluvial fan of a giant rock slide (granitic gneiss). Measurements of the radon exhalation rate from soil showed a median of 0.4 Bq/m2/s, measurements of the radium content of rock samples yielded a median of 125 Bq/kg. The material of the rock slide is heavily fractured so that an elevated emanating power and an increased diffusion coefficient for radon in soil must be assumed. Given a diffusion coefficient of 8 x 10(-6) m2/s and an emanating power of 0.3, the median exhalation rate of 0.4 Bq/m2/s is obtained at a radium concentration of 125 Bq/kg. The rock slide is therefore considered to be the main source of radon. The abnormally high radon concentrations in Umhausen coincide with a statistically significant increase in lung cancer mortality (age and sex standardized mortality rate = 3.9, 95% C.I.: 2.9-5.1); the control population is the population of the entire Tyrol (630,000 inhabitants).