Influence of Radon Emission from Hot Springs Water on Hotel Rooms

摘要

Hot springs are tourists'attractive. In Guangdong province of China many health resorts were set up near hot spring sites with hot spring introduced into baths inside hotel rooms. This study selected eight hot spring hotels in Guangdong to investigate the influence of indoor use of 222Rn-bearing water on indoor radon levels. Radon in tap hot spring waters, as well as in indoor and outdoor air, was determined by using Scintillation Cell method, NR-667A and RAD-7 continuous radon detector, respectively. Radon concentrations ranged 15.5-255.5 Bq·L-1 in the hot spring waters, and 9-18 Bq·m-3 in outdoor air. Systematic diurnal variation of radon concentration in the investigated hotel rooms was determined. Use of spring water inside the baths significantly increased the indoor radon levels. The rising of radon levels in the rooms was largely attributed to the guests?bathing with hot spring water. Spring water use in the hotel rooms had radon transfer coefficients from 2.1×10-4 to 8.9?0-3. The results of this study show that hot spring water flow during bath filling is by far the dominant mechanism by which 222Rn is released into the air of the hotel rooms.