ANNALS OF “DUNAREA DE JOS” UNIVERSITY OF GALATI – FASCICLE II █████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████ . 93 ANNALS OF “DUNAREA DE JOS” UNIVERSITY OF GALATI MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS, THEORETICAL MECHANICS FASCICLE II, YEAR XIII (XLIV) 2021, No. 2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.35219/ann-ugal-math-phys-mec.2021.2.02 Contemporary technologies in research to control and reduce the health risk of radon exposure Ababii Aurelia National Agency for Public Health, 67A Gheorghe Asachi Street, Chisinau. Republic of Moldova Corresponding author: aurelia.ababii@ansp.gov.md Abstract Ionizing radiation of terrestrial origin is a topic of global interest and the main objective is the study of the medical-biological effects on health. The academic community is in continuous research on the development of methods for detecting them. One of the most important elements participating in the creation of the natural background of ionizing radiation, with a major impact on health is radon. It cannot be perceived by the human senses as it is an odorless, colorless, and tasteless gas. Radon inhaled into the alveoli of the lungs disrupts the main cellular processes, the translation and transcription of DNA and RNA molecules, thus occurring a series of mutations in the genetic apparatus. Exposure to high levels of radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after tobacco use. Determining the concentration of radon in the air of residential homes, public buildings and workplaces is a priority action for the development and implementation of the action plan in the context of the objectives of EURATOM Directive 59/2013. Keywords: radon, detectors, health risk 1. INTRODUCTION Radon is a ubiquitous radioactive gas with a major impact on international public health systems and epidemiological studies show that its medical and biological effects can no longer be neglected and require systematic monitoring and policies aimed at controlling and remedying high-risk situations for the general condition of the population. The study of radon in terms of its involvement in the etiology of bronchopulmonary cancer is an important step in raising awareness about the risks of exposure to this gas. The share of bronchopulmonary cancers (out of the total number), caused by radon is 3-14%, a percentage that is in a relationship of interdependence with the average concentration of radon in the country. According to UNSCEAR, radon is responsible for about 70% of the total effective dose of exposure of the population to natural ionizing radiation sources and 50% of the total exposure to ionizing radiation [1,2]. The effects of radon are largely attributed to the inhalation of both the gas and its disintegrants. The process of radon accumulation in the respiratory tract is dependent on its attachment to particles, the particle size determines the ability to migrate from the upper to lower airways to the lung alveoli, where it accumulates over a period equivalent to the time of disintegration in short-lived offspring [3]. In radon research, there are three essential elements that need to be elucidated to define the exposure doses of the population, namely the presence of radon in groundwater, soil, and indoor air [4].