Speaker
Description
Radon (222Rn) is a naturally occurring radioactive noble gas. It is purported to be the second leading cause of lung cancer in Canada and the USA. Exposure is currently assumed to be confined to the respiratory epithelium following inhalation. However, as an inert gas, radon may diffuse into porous media, water, and possibly biological soft tissues. Direct measurements of radon movement in and out of biological tissue are lacking. This project will test whether radon can diffuse into and emanate from living biological tissue.
We are in the conceptual stages of developing a novel experimental workflow at SNOLAB to directly measure radon emanation from biological samples using a sealed, radon-impermeable collection system paired with a high-sensitivity radon emanation board. Collected radon will be quantified using established radon emanation techniques pioneered by SNOLAB. Briefly, the radon board consists of a cryogenic dual-trap transfer system and low-background scintillation (ZnS) Lucas cell alpha counting, enabling detection sensitivities of tens of radon atoms per day. As a proof-of-concept, a synthetic soft-tissue mimetic will be exposed to elevated radon atmospheres and compared with air-exposed controls, with nitrogen flushing used to control residual airborne radon. Time-resolved radon off-gassing measurements will then be used to measure radon retention within the samples.
Following validation, this approach will be extended to whole-body and organ-specific measurements in a small animal model exposed to a controlled radon environment. Quantifying radon mobility in biological tissue has the potential to challenge existing assumptions about radon dose localization and inform improved biokinetic and dosimetric models relevant to radiation protection, low-dose risk assessment, and underground radiation environments.
| Keyword-1 | Radon |
|---|---|
| Keyword-2 | Radiobiology |
| Keyword-3 | Health Physics |