Radon concentrations and forecasting exposure risks to residents and workers in rare earth and copper mines containing radioactivity in northwest Vietnam

Abstract

Radon and its isotopes are inert gases as they do not interact with any chemical compounds. Compared with thoron (220Rn) and radon-219 (219Rn), the risk of radioactive exposure of radon-222 (222Rn) is very high due to its long half-life of 3.8 d, while the half-life of 220Rn is 55 sec and of 219Rn is 4 sec. As a gas, radon can escape from the surfaces of ore, minerals, and rocks, then dissolve into groundwater and move very far from the formation site...