Comparison of urinary excretion of radon from the human body before and after radon bath therapy.

Authors: Kávási N (1) , Kovács T (2) , Somlai J (2) , Jobbágy V (3) , Nagy K (4) , Deák E (4) , Berhés I (4) , Bender T (5) , Ishikawa T (1) , Tokonami S (1)
Affiliations:
(1) Research Center for Radiation Protection, National Institute of Radiological Sciences (2) Department of Radiochemistry, University of Pannonia (3) Social Organization for Radio Ecological Cleanliness (4) Department of Rheumatology, Markhot Ferenc Hospital (5) Polyclinic of the Hospitaller Brothers of St. John of God
Source: Radiat Prot Dosimetry. 2011 Jul;146(1-3):27-30
DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncr099 Publication date: 2011 Jul E-Publication date: April 11, 2011 Availability: abstract Copyright: © 2011, Oxford University Press
Language: English Countries: Not specified Location: Not specified Correspondence address: Kávási N : norbert@fml.nirs.go.jp

Keywords

Article abstract

Theoretically, the human body absorbs radon through the lungs and the skin and excretes it through the lungs and the excretory organs during radon bath therapy. To check this theory, the radon concentrations in urine samples were compared before and after radon bath therapy. During the therapy, the geometric mean (GM) and the geometric standard deviation of the radon concentration in air and in the bath water were 979 Bq m(-3), 1.58 and 73.6 Bq dm(-3), 1.1, respectively. Since radon was detected in each urine sample (GM around 3.0 Bq dm(-3)), urinary excretion of radon was confirmed. The results of this study can neither reject nor confirm the hypothesis of radon absorption through the skin. A 15 times higher increment of inhaled radon level did not cause significant changes in radon of urine samples.

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