Ventilation as an Indispensable Tool for Healthy Constructions: Comparison of Alicante’s Urban Railway Tunnels
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Indoor Air Quality and Health
- The absence of data concerning women and children who obviously did not work in the mines.
- Uncertainties in the health effect of the dose rate.
- Lack of data on smoking habits in most studies.
- Inadequate control of other confusing variables (such as exposure to gamma radiation or suspended aerosols).
2.1. Importance of Ventilation in the Construction Phase of Tunnels
2.2. Radon Gas As an Indicator of Ventilation
3. Measuring Zones
3.1. The Benacantil Mount Railway Tunnel
3.2. The Serra Grossa Railway Tunnel
4. Comparison of Air Quality. Radon Gas as a Control Element
4.1. Study of Air Quality in the Benacantil Mount Tunnel
- Zone 1
- Zone 2
- Zone 3
- Zone 4
- Zone 5
- Zone 6
4.1.1. Data Collection Process in the Benacantil Mount Tunnel
4.1.2. Results Obtained in the Study of Benacantil Mount
4.2. Study of Air Quality in the Serra Grossa Tunnel
- Zone 1
- Zone 2
- Zone 3
- Zone 4
- Zone 5
- Zone 6
- Zone 7
- Zone 8
4.2.1. Data Collection Process in the Serra Grossa Tunnel
4.2.2. Results Obtained in the Serra Grossa Study
5. Discussion of Results
5.1. Summary of the Results of the Benacantil Mount Tunnel Measurement
5.2. Summary of the Results of the Serra Grossa Tunnel Measurement
5.3. Comparison of Results
6. Conclusions
7. Future Lines of Research
- In the field of construction, new techniques must be implemented that incorporate greater protections and barriers that prevent the entry of radon gas produced by ground contact.
- Construction materials should focus on achieving non-generation of radon gas by moving away from the elements of their chain of semidesintegration in their composition.
- Regulations concerning the maximum permitted quantities of radon gas in buildings, as well as measures to be taken from certain concentration levels, must be developed and made mandatory to control the presence of this gas in buildings. It has been found that the levels of this gas can be excessively high even in areas not considered to be at risk.
- Measures should be implemented for constructions located on the land with high values of radon gas concentration to help reduce the dose of human exposure. These measures should focus both on ventilation and indoor air renewal and direct methods of capturing and expelling gas from inside buildings.
- In the field of radioprotection, the dose that a person can support in particular cases should be investigated using appropriate dosimetry models.
- In the particular case of the study shown, we intended to measure the tunnel of the Serra Grossa Mountain after the works and already in operation, to check the proper ventilation and, therefore, air quality.
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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SUMMARY OF MEASUREMENTS IN THE SERRA GROSSA TUNNEL | |||
---|---|---|---|
Zone | Place | Number of Samples | Average Concentration Radon Gas (Bq/m) |
Zone 1 | 100 m from the south entrance | 6 | 694.75 |
Zone 2 | 300 m from the south entrance | 6 | 730.53 |
Zone 3 | 500 m from the south entrance | 6 | 974.25 |
Zone 4 | 600 m from the south entrance | 6 | 856.06 |
Zone 5 | 700 m emergency exit | 6 | 752.34 |
Zone 6 | 800 m from the south entrance | 6 | 1145.46 |
Zone 7 | 1300 m from the south entrance | 6 | 1116.88 |
Zone 8 | 1400 m from south entrance | 6 | 1000.40 |
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Rizo-Maestre, C.; Echarri-Iribarren, V.; Galiano-Garrigós, A. Ventilation as an Indispensable Tool for Healthy Constructions: Comparison of Alicante’s Urban Railway Tunnels. Sustainability 2019, 11, 6205. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226205
Rizo-Maestre C, Echarri-Iribarren V, Galiano-Garrigós A. Ventilation as an Indispensable Tool for Healthy Constructions: Comparison of Alicante’s Urban Railway Tunnels. Sustainability. 2019; 11(22):6205. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226205
Chicago/Turabian StyleRizo-Maestre, Carlos, Víctor Echarri-Iribarren, and Antonio Galiano-Garrigós. 2019. "Ventilation as an Indispensable Tool for Healthy Constructions: Comparison of Alicante’s Urban Railway Tunnels" Sustainability 11, no. 22: 6205. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226205