New information brochure for protection against radon

The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy published a new brochure on radon today (07.06.). Radon is a naturally occurring, radioactive noble gas. It is produced in rocks and in the soil from natural uranium. As a gas, radon can spread in the ground upwards and penetrate through basement walls and floors in buildings and accumulate there.

"The inhalation of radon and its radioactive decay products is considered the second leading cause of lung cancer today after smoking," said Environment Minister Franz Untersteller. Statistically, every citizen in Germany is exposed to an average radiation dose of 1,100 microsieverts per year. For comparison, the release of waste from the decommissioning of nuclear power plants is only allowed up to a maximum dose of ten microsieverts per year. "Better protection against radon is therefore the most effective contribution to noticeably reducing the annual radiation exposure of citizens in the country," Untersteller emphasized. 

CONTINUE READING ON um.baden-wuerttemberg.de (Automatically translated from German)