Soil Gas Radon Monitoring in Odo Ona: Implication on Health and Life Expectancy

Radon (Rn-222) gas, a leading cause of lung cancer, second only to cigarette smoking was investigated in Odo Ona, Ibadan, (which lies within Latitude 350 0 to Latitude 3550, and Longitude 7150 to Longitude 7250) a population of about 741 405 people. Four monitoring stations were randomly selected where soil gas radon were monitored using CR 39 detectors for about four months. Average soil gas radon exhalation from these sites which ranged from 531.85 Bq/m3 to 970.35 Bq/m3 were significantly higher the USEPA recommended action level which was adopted by the Standard Organisation of Nigeria. The paper concludes with the health risks associated with these facts about radon exhalation in the area and concludes with useful recommendations.