Passive and active methods for Radon pollution measurements in historical heritage buildings

Radon is a dangerous pollutant causing lung cancer. The main protection against it is the monitoring. Recent literature has highlighted that historical buildings and archeological sites could be polluted by Radon not only due to the geological site but also due to the building materials and usage. In this paper, measurement techniques for the evaluation of Radon's concentration level (222Rn) are compared. This evaluation allows to determine most appropriate technique to be used in this type of buildings. The study is justified by the fact that the buildings are often attended not only by specialists but also by tourist that with their behaviour could misstate Radon gas measurement. The study is effectuated analyzing the situation of three old churches located in San Giovanni in Fiore (Cosenza, south of Italy). The measurement results are compared with the ones obtained by performing the same monitoring in public buildings attended by different kind of users. The monitored sites, churches and public buildings, are erected on the common granite massif of Sila (South Italy), by using local granite stone. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.