Absorbed Fractions in Sensitive Regions of Human Respiratory Tract Calculated by MCNP5/X Software for Electrons and Beta Particles Due to Radon Progeny

摘要

Radon, 222 Rn, is radioactive noble gas which decays by alpha emission with half-life of 3.825 d. Its short-lived progeny, 218 Po, 214 Pb and 214 Bi ( 214 Po), are alpha and beta radioactive and they emit gamma radiation as well. Radon progeny can be inhaled by humans where they deposit on the inner layers of bronchi, and bronchioles. Particles (alpha, beta and gamma) emitted in radioactive decay damage surrounding tissue which can lead to development of lung cancer. The Absorbed Fractions (AF) of electrons and beta particles in sensitive layers of human respiratory tract were calculated in this paper. For that purpose the MCNP5/X simulation software [1], based on Monte Carlo method, was used. The human respiratory tract was modeled according to ICRP66 publication [2].