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Observational Study
. 2019 Sep;29(5):854-864.
doi: 10.1111/ina.12575. Epub 2019 Jun 18.

Home energy efficiency and radon: An observational study

Phil Symonds  1 , David Rees  2 , Zornitza Daraktchieva  2 , Neil McColl  2 , Jane Bradley  2 , Ian Hamilton  3 , Michael Davies  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Home energy efficiency and radon: An observational study

Phil Symonds et al. Indoor Air. 2019 Sep.

Abstract

Exposure to radon gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer worldwide behind smoking. Changing the energy characteristics of a dwelling can influence both its thermal and ventilative properties, which can affect indoor air quality. This study uses radon measurements made in 470 689 UK homes between 1980 and 2015, linked to dwelling information contained within the Home Energy Efficiency Database (HEED). The linked dataset, the largest of its kind, was used to analyze the association of housing and energy performance characteristics with indoor radon concentrations in the UK. The findings show that energy efficiency measures that increase the airtightness of properties are observed to have an adverse association with indoor radon levels. Homes with double glazing installed had radon measurements with a significantly higher geometric mean, 67% (95% CI: 44, 89) greater than those without a recorded fabric retrofit. Those with loft insulation (47%, 95% CI: 26, 69) and wall insulation (32%, 95% CI: 11, 53) were also found to have higher radon readings. Improving the energy performance of the UK's housing stock is vital in meeting carbon emission reduction targets. However, compromising indoor air quality must be avoided through careful assessment and implementation practices.

Keywords: big UK dataset; home energy efficiency; indoor air quality; longitudinal study; radon; ventilation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interests to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Passive monitors used by Public Health England to measure indoor radon concentrations. © Crown Copyright, 2013. Public Health England
Figure 2
Figure 2
Time in years that a radon measurement follows the most recent energy efficiency intervention made in a home
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of radon measurements (A) for the full radon‐HEED dataset. The final bin is an overflow bin which contains all measurements above 600 Bq/m3. B shows the normalized histogram for the natural log of radon measurements fitted with a normal distribution (μ = 3.8, σ = 1.2). Dashed lines indicate thresholds at 20, 200, 1000, and 5000 Bq/m3 for guidance
Figure 4
Figure 4
Normalized histograms showing ln(radon measurement) for independent (A) and combinations (B) of HEE measures. DP, downdraft proofing; Glz, glazing; LI, loft insulation; WI, wall insulation
Figure 5
Figure 5
Quantile‐Quantile plots showing the ln(radon measurement) vs the theoretical quantiles for a normal distribution. Comparisons between the full dataset (all dwellings) and different independent home energy efficiency measures applied. Lines of the best fitting log‐normal distributions are shown for the data samples. DP, downdraft proofing; Glz, glazing; LI, loft insulation; WI, wall insulation
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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