Author(s): Meneses, Paulo ; Lopes, Nuno ; Leite, Patrícia ; Teixeira, Paulo ; Silva, Joaquim P.
Date: 2025
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/11110/3209
Origin: Politécnico do Cávado e do Ave
Subject(s): Indoor Radon Potential; Citizen Science Platform
The WHO estimates that cancers caused by radon gas may account for 14% of all lung cancers. The concentration of indoor radon gas is a well-known public health threat and has been the subject of many scientific studies. The WHO has issued recommendations to encourage countries to act against radon exposure to reduce the associated cancer risks. However, despite the vast knowledge on this subject, the measures already taken and the information available, much of the population at risk remains unaware of what radon gas is and its impact on health. In this context, an approach has been designed to perform the pre-diagnosis of indoor radon potential based on the geographical location of the building, its construction characteristics, and its use profile. Recently, a model has been built that performs automatic classification of radon potential in indoor environments. This paper describes the development of a web platform integrating this model to enable citizens to obtain an assessment of the radon potential of the buildings where they work or live. The platform aims to promote radon measurements by the general population and raise awareness about radon risk. These measurements will generate new data that will be used to build more robust classification models.
This research was funded by the project TECH (Technology, Environment, Creativity and Health), Norte-01-0145-FEDER-000043, supported by Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER).
