A Brief Monitoring on Outdoor and Indoor Radon Concentrations in Academic Building, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Jeli Campus

Radon is one of the radioactive materials which exist in the human surroundings. It is one of the most contributors to the background radiation which is derived from the decay process of uranium-238 beneath the soil which originated from the Earth's crust. Radon usually emanates from soil and rock, which then can enter the building through cracks, construction joint, gas in suspended floors and also from the building materials itself. Since radon is the second lead causes for lung cancer besides smoking, the inhalation of radon gas in high concentration is hazardous as it can affect the organ and tissues inside human body due to the emission of alpha particles of the radon. Realizing the effects of the hazard, the measurements of radon concentrations were done in Academic Building at Universiti Malaysia Kelantan Jeli Campus, outside and inside a room that were chosen. This study aims to determine the outdoor and indoor radon concentrations in the Academic Building as well as to identify possible factors which contribute to radon concentrations. Continuous radon monitor which is Radon Sentinel
1030 was used in this research in order to measure the radon concentrations. The radon monitor was placed at an open space (alley) between the lecturer's rooms and inside closed room which is Lecture Hall 4, where both of the spaces chosen were on the first floor of the Academic Building, UMK Jeli Campus. The research was completed in 14 days which seven days are allocated for each outdoor and indoor space radon measurements. The outdoor radon concentrations were found to range between 0.23 pCi/L to 0.48 pCi/L whereas the indoor radon concentrations range is between 0.73
pCi/L to 1.13 pCi/L.