The first systematic indoor radon measurements in the central part of Montenegro
were carried out in the period 2002-2003, when 280 homes in four
municipalities were surveyed twice a year using CR-39 track-etch detectors, exposed
each time for about six months. The annual average radon concentrations
were found to be lognormally distributed (GM = 58.9 Bq m-3
, GSD = 3.2)
within the range 4 - 2, 208 Bq m-3
, with an arithmetic mean of 124 Bq m-3
and a median of 55.4 Bq m-3
. Radon concentrations above the action level of
400 Bq m-3 are found in 6.8 % of all sampled dwellings. All these 19 locations
are in detached single-family houses.
Radon concentrations were generally higher in detached single-family houses
than in apartment houses, in older than in newer houses, and in rural than in
urban homes. As to radon exposure indoors, this survey indicates reinforced
concrete as the most favorable and stones as the most unfavorable of the building
materials commonly used in Montenegro.
The average effective dose due to exposure to indoor radon in this region
of Montenegro is estimated to be 3.12 mSv y-1
, while in the rural area of
the Niksic municipality, which is abundant in bauxite deposits, it amounts to
7.31 mSv y-1
.