Premium
Correlating point‐referenced radon and areal uranium data arising from a common spatial process
Author(s) -
Smith Brian J.,
Cowles Mary Kathryn
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of the royal statistical society: series c (applied statistics)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.205
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9876
pISSN - 0035-9254
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9876.2007.00579.x
Subject(s) - radon , uranium , radon exposure , environmental science , radon gas , uranium mine , uranium mining , materials science , physics , quantum mechanics , metallurgy
Summary. Because exposure to radon gas in buildings is a likely risk factor for lung cancer, estimation of residential radon levels is an important public health endeavour. Radon originates from uranium, and therefore data on the geographical distribution of uranium in the Earth's surface may inform about radon levels. We fit a Bayesian geostatistical model that appropriately combines data on uranium with measurements of indoor home radon in the state of Iowa, thereby obtaining more accurate and precise estimation of the geographic distribution of average residential radon levels than would be possible by using radon data alone.