A collaborative research by scientists of Kerala University and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, has shed light on the hydrological applications of radon, a radioactive noble gas.
Professor Sabu Joseph and S. Sukanya, a guest faculty, of the Department of Environmental Sciences, Kerala University; and Jacob Noble of the Isotope and Radiation Application Division at BARC have highlighted findings on radon behaviour in hydrological systems in a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Chemosphere.
Known to be the second leading cause of lung cancer after tobacco, the naturally-occurring gas is formed after the decay of uranium in the earth’s crust and enters the environment through the soil. While it is also ubiquitously present in groundwater and surface water, dissolved radon enters the indoor air through the water drawn from wells.
