222Rn activity concentration in outdoor air of Johor, Malaysia

Communication in Physical Sciences, 2022, 8(2): 205-210 Authors: Rakiya Haruna and, Muneer Aziz Saleh Received: 23 February 2022/Accepted 04 May 2022 Radon is a radioactive element that has a great potential to cause cancer, in addition to other impacts on the environment.  In this study, an investigation was conducted to establish reference data for an outdoor concentration of 222Rn in air around  Johor state in  Malaysia. The 222R activity in outdoor air was measured using RAD7 solid-state alpha detector. The measured values vary from MDA to 3.85 Bq/L with a mean value of 0.15 ±0.04 Bq/L, which is approximately ten times the maximum permissible range specified by WHO (2016) of 0.005-0.015 Bq/L. A map of the spatial distribution of 222Rn in outdoor air was produced which indicates that higher values of 222Rn in outdoor air were measured in the north western part of this study area