News Archives |
Volume 4 No 27; 9 July 2010
- Health Protection Agency issues new advice on radon
- Confirmed measles cases in England and Wales in 2010: update to end-May
Health Protection Agency issues new advice on radon
New advice about when it is appropriate for practical measures to be taken to reduce concentrations of radon in UK homes has been issued in a new report from the Health Protection Agency [1,2].
After reviewing the latest scientific evidence, as well as the costs and benefits of radon reduction measures, the HPA is retaining its Action Level of 200 becquerels per cubic metre - but introducing a new Target Level of 100 becquerels per cubic metre.
The Target Level has been introduced because research published since 1990 has given scientists a greater understanding of the risks to health of exposure to radon below 200 becquerels per cubic metre and because HPA now has considerably more experience of the effectiveness of remediation measures. Although low level exposures can still lead to lung cancer, the risks at these levels are low and can be reduced further by simple mitigation measures. The role of Target Level is to provide an objective for remedial action in existing homes and preventive action in new homes.
The role of the Action Level is to assist in the designation of areas of concern for possible high radon concentrations in new and existing homes and to provide a threshold above which all householders are advised to remediate, ie:- Areas where 10% or more of homes are estimated to be above the Action Level should be regarded as higher probability radon areas;
- Areas where 1% or more but less than 10% of homes are estimated to be above the Action Level should be regarded as intermediate probability radon areas; and
- Areas where less than 1% of homes are estimated to be above the Action Level should be regarded as lower probability radon areas.
It is recommended that householders in intermediate and higher probability radon areas should have measurements made of indoor radon concentration in their home. The HPA also recommends that Target and Action Levels should be applied to other premises where occupancy by members of the public exceeds 2,000 hours per year and to all schools.
The HPA recommendations follow recent advice and improved evidence on the risks from radon issued by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The HPA's independent Advisory Group on Ionising Radiation (AGIR) also recently issued recommendations about radon and public health and the HPA (NRPB prior to 2005) has published radon probability maps of all parts of the UK.
The new HPA report reiterates previous advice, issued by HPA in 2008, on the desirability of installing radon preventative measures in all new buildings; now with the aim of ensuring radon concentrations are below the Target Level.
Information for householders about the likelihood that their home is above the Action Level is available at: www.ukradon.org. Radon maps for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are available at: www.ukradon.org/article.php?key=indicativemap.
References.
1. HPA advice on the limitation of human exposure to radon - RCE 15 (ISBN 978-0-85951-669-3), July 2010. Available from the HPA website: Home › Publications › Radiation › Documents of the HPA: RCE series.
2. Health Protection Agency issues new advice on radon, HPA press release, 8 July 2010.
Confirmed measles cases in England and Wales in 2010: update to end-May
In May, the number of confirmed measles cases doubled for a fourth consecutive month reaching a total of 83 cases in England and Wales for the first five months of 2010.
The majority of cases were reported from two regions, London (42%; 35/83) and the East of England region (19%;16/83) (see table). All cases were unvaccinated apart from two children, both part of a large school outbreak in London, who had received only one dose of MMR vaccine. Most cases this year have been reported in children under 18 years of age, however, almost a quarter of all cases are in adults. A detailed age breakdown of cases for 2010 to the end of May by region is available at: http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1223019390211.Month |
Lond-on |
East Mids |
East of Engl'd |
North East |
North West |
South East |
South West |
West Mids |
Wales |
York & Humb |
Total |
Total 2009 |
198 |
47 |
74 |
122 |
79 |
276 |
43 |
95 |
159 |
51 |
1144 |
Jan 10 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Feb 10 |
- |
- |
2 |
- |
- |
3 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
5 |
Mar 10 |
1 |
- |
2 |
- |
- |
3 |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
8 |
Apr 10 |
7 |
- |
1 |
- |
5 |
2 |
1 |
- |
3 |
- |
19 |
May 10 |
27 |
1 |
11 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
- |
2 |
1 |
51 |
| Total 2010 | 35 |
1 |
16 |
1 |
9 |
11 |
4 |
- |
5 |
1 |
83 |
Number of laboratory confirmed cases in England and Wales by month of onset: January 2006 to May 2010
So far this year, clusters of cases have been identified in the traveller community (East of England, Yorkshire and Humber), linked to schools (London) and in the community and nurseries (North West).
A further 14 cases had a documented history of recent travel abroad, including Europe (Ireland, France, Italy, the Netherlands), Africa (South Africa, Ethiopia), the Middle and Far East (Afghanistan, Dubai) and India. This demonstrates the risk of measles to unvaccinated travellers and anyone planning to go abroad should therefore ensure that they are fully protected against measles before travelling.