RadioLab project: knowledge of radon gas in Italy

Abstract

RadioLab is an Italian project, addressed to school-age people, and designed for the dissemination of scientific culture on the theme of environmental radioactivity, with particular regards to the importance of knowledge of radon gas exposure. The project is a nationwide initiative promoted by the National Institute of Nuclear Physics- INFN. First tool used by the project, and of immediate impact to assess the public awareness on radon, is the administration of the survey "do you know the radon gas?". In the survey, together with the knowledge of radon and of its sources, information on personal, cultural and territorial details regarding the interviewees are also taken. Reasonably, the survey invests not only young people, but also their relatives, school workers and, gradually, the public. The survey is administrated during exhibitions or outreach events devoted to schools, but also open to the public. The survey is in dual form: printed and online. The online mode clearly leads RadioLab project even outside the school environment. Based on the results of the survey, several statistical analyses have been performed and many conclusions are drawn about the knowledge of the population on the radon risk. The RadioLab benefit and the requirement to carry on the project goals, spreading awareness of environmental radioactivity from radon, emerge. The dataset involves all twenty Italian regions and consists of 28,612 entries covering the 5-year period 2018-2022.

Figure 1

Number of surveys “do you know the radon gas?” carried out by region. The map was created by Microsoft Excel 2016 version number 16.78 (https://office.microsoft.com/excel).

Figure 2

Number and percentage of male (wood color) and female (jeans color) to which survey “do you know the radon gas?” was administered, assorted by: (a) age of the interviewees (< 19; 19–30; 30–50; > 50); (b) education level of the interviewees (primary/middle school diploma; high school diploma; university degree).

Figure 3

Number and percentage of survey “do you know the radon gas?” slitted by: (a) scenario where the survey was done (event; online; school/university), (b) years (2018–2022).

Figure 4

Percentage per year (2018–2022) of the question ‘scenario where the survey was done’ (event in blue; online in orange; school/university in gray), concerning the survey “do you know the radon gas?”.

Figure 5

Bar graph of the percentage per gender about the knowledge of radon gas (‘yes’ in green, ‘no’ in black) combined with the age of the interviewees (< 19;19–30;30–50; > 50).

Figure 6

Bar graph of the percentage per education level (primary/middle school diploma; high school diploma; university degree) on the knowledge of radon (‘yes’ in green, ‘no’ in black).

Figure 7

Bar graph of the percentage per source of radon knowledge (project in red; newspaper/tv/web in violet; event in ocher; other in brown) for interviewees, combined with their age (< 19;19–30;30–50; > 50).

Figure 8

Bar graph of the percentage per age of the interviewees (< 19;19–30;30–50; > 50) answering the question ‘do you think a radon measurement in your city is urgent?’ (‘yes’ in lime; ‘I do not know’ in gold; ‘no’ in silver).

Figure 9

Bar graph of the percentage per education level of the interviewees (primary/middle school diploma; high school diploma; university degree) answering the question ‘do you think a radon measurement in your city is urgent?’ (‘yes’ in lime; ‘I do not know’ in gold; ‘no’ in silver).

Figure 10

Bar graph of the percentage per interviewees who know or do not know about the radon gas, answering the question ‘do you think a radon measurement in your city is urgent?’ (‘yes’ in lime; ‘I do not know’ in gold; ‘no’ in silver).

Figure 11

Trend per age (< 19 with gray line; 19–30 with yellow line; 30–50 with blue line; > 50 with orange line) of the interviewees who answered ‘yes’ to the question ‘do you know radon?’, during 2018–2022.