@article{Chavarria_Golzarri_Espinosa_2021, title={Radon Dose Determination and Radiological Risk in Some Mexican Caves with CR-39 Detectors}, volume={8}, url={https://jnp.chitkara.edu.in/index.php/jnp/article/view/254}, DOI={10.15415/jnp.2021.82022}, abstractNote={<p>Radon (<sup>222</sup>Rn) is a radioactive gas, from the <sup>238</sup>U decay chain, that contributes in large part of the natural radiation dose to which humans are exposed. Radon is the second cause of lung cancer after tobacco. The US-EPA considers a concentration of 148 Bq/m<sup>3</sup> for homes and 400 Bq/m<sup>3</sup> for workplaces as the reference level. Caves are closed spaces where <sup>222</sup>Rn, which emanates from the surrounding minerals and rocks, can accumulate and reaches large concentrations that can represent a health risk for the guides, speleologists and visitors who spend time in these spaces. This work uses the previously recorded radon concentrations in 8 caves in Mexico and calculates the average dose range and the average annual dose for each of them with the “Wise” public domain program (http://www.wise-uranium.org/rdcrn.html) to determine the level of radiological risk with 2,000 1,000 and 500 working hours per year. Karmidas cave had the highest average <sup>222</sup>Rn concentration with 27,633.3 Bq/m<sup>3</sup> and for 2,000 working hours per year an average annual dose rate of 347.1 mSv/y. Los Riscos cave had the lowest average concentration with 384.7 Bq/m<sup>3</sup> and for 2,000 working hours per year an average annual dose rate of 4.832 mSv/y. These results show that all the caves studied present values,<br>with 2,000 working hours per year, that exceed 3 mSv/y for workplaces and must be considered by the people who work in these places. A casual tourist visiting the caves does not present any radiological risk, while guides and speleologists should consider it.</p>}, number={2}, journal={Journal of Nuclear Physics, Material Sciences, Radiation and Applications}, author={Chavarria, A. and Golzarri, J. I. and Espinosa, G.}, year={2021}, month={Feb.}, pages={169–175} }