Radon gas migration through soil – a review

Abstract

Soil is generally a medium with pores and interstitial space thus allowing fluid to fill up, flow, and trap within these spaces. Due to the radon state of matter, it has the ability to mobilize like any other fluids from the subsurface to an atmosphere, but only a small percentage of radon manages to escape to the earth’s surface. This is because several other complex factors will interrupt and influence the migration of radon in the soil before it could reach the surface. Though diffusion of radon gas is limited to 3.82 days and restricted from moving in a longer distance, its emission has a probability to escape from soil to the atmosphere depends on meteorological and physical factors. The purpose of this review paper is to analyse the parameters that affect the migration and generation of radon in the subsurface before it could reach the earth’s surface and exhale to the environment.