Pregled israživanja radona u prethodnih 29 simpozijuma Društva za zaštitu od zračenja Srbije i Crne Gore

Abstract

Radon je prirodni radioaktivni gas, čije je prisustvo zbog svojih karakteristika nemoguće detektovati ljudskim čulima, već ga je neophodno meriti. Iako je otkriven na početku XX veka, kada su i izmerene visoke koncentracije radona u rudnicima srebra u Češkoj, tek je četiri decenije posle pretpostavljena veza izmeĎu visoke koncentracije radona i kancera pluća, da bi se desetak godina kasnije ukazalo na radonove potomke kao moguće uzročnike kancera. Brojne epidemiološke studije su pokazale da radon sa svojim potomcima predstavlja drugi uzročnik kancera pluća posle pušenja. Važnost ispitivanja radona i njegovih potomaka je odmah uočena i u Srbiji, tako da je već na prvom skupu, tada Jugoslovenskog društva za radiološku zaštitu, održanom 1963 godine, bilo nekoliko radova posvećenih merenju koncentracije radona u rudnicima i banjama čime se dominantno bavio Institut za medicinu rada, iz Beograda. U ovoj publikaciji data je kvalitativna analiza „radonskih― radova sa prethodnih 29 simpozijuma Društva za zaštitu od zračenja. Diskutovana je aktuelnost problematike sa godinama, pregled tema koje su se širile s godinama, kao i pregled korišćenih mernih tehnika i njihov razvoj. Konačno, data je procena daljeg razvoja problematike radona.

Radon is natural radioactive gas. It is colourless, tasteless, odourless and therefore it cannot be detected by human senses, but should be measured. It was discovered at the beginning of XX century. At that time, high radon concentrations were measured in the Bohemian silver mines. However it took four decades before a connection between high radon concentration and lung cancer was assumed and one decade more to link radon progeny as a possible cause of lung cancer. Numerous epidemiological studies have shown that radon with its progeny represents second cause of lung cancer after smoking. The importance of investigation of radon and its progeny was acknowledged at the very beginning of Symposiums of Yugoslav society of radiation protection. Thus, already at the first Symposium, held in 1963, there were already several papers published regarding radon concentration measurements in mines and spas. In the first few proceeding of the Symposium the main contribution was from Serbian Institute of Occupational Health. In this publication, an overview of research on radon, published in previous 29 Proceedings of symposiums of Radiation Protection Society, was given. Evolution of actuality of different radon topics was discussed and overview of used measurement techniques was given. Finally, it was estimated in which directions development of radon topics might go.