Radon vs Current Radiation

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2011-04-06 02:50

My understanding is that the average radon level in outside air that we breath is approximately .014 bq/l (radon usually shown as .4 pCi/L) and the WHO action level would be at .1 bq/l (2.7 pCi/L)

Am I converting correctly that the air samples that have been taken (approx. 4.5E-06 at the max. level measured) equals .0000045 bq/l. Is that right?

Is there a difference in the radioactivity exposure between breathing in Iodine or Cesium vs Radon? I believe that Radon is linked to lung cancer alone and wonder if perhaps breathing in other radioactive particles is limited to lung damage alone as well(e.g. iodine cannot travel from the lung to the thyroid?) but I digress...

Am I doing the math right here? If around .014 bq/l of Radon is ALWAYS in the outside air (I have .17 bq/l in my house right now), are we seriously entertaining the idea that breathing in .0000045 bq/l of some other radioactive particle is a problem? That would seem beyond trivial in that context.

Can anyone comment on this?

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So this would mean that the

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2011-04-06 13:17.

So this would mean that the highest level of fallout measured in the air at Berkeley is 3111 times less than the average level of radon already in the air? Is there a different risk associated with radon as compared to the other isotopes?

Does anyone know if these

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2011-04-06 16:31.

Does anyone know if these numbers/comparison is accurate?