Remarks on the variability of radon indoor concentrations in Italy

From a geological point of view the Italian territory, compared with other European nations, is characterized by complex situations due to past and current tectonic activities related to seismicity, to the presence of an intense volcanism, especially in western and southern sides of Italy, and to the presence of thermal springs. As a direct consequence, radon concentration, notwithstanding a mean value of 77 Bq/m3 for all the national territory, exhibits a significant standard deviation; for instance, in some towns situated in north of Rome radon concentrations in dwellings may reach values up to 400-500 Bq/m3. This study presents the results of a series of measurements, carried out by means of a Genitron AlphaGuard, in different areas of Italy. In some cases, also the historical past of Italy may play a certain role on radon concentrations; for instance, measurements carried out in dwellings situated over a Roman catacomb of two thousand years ago have shown anomalous results.