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Radon potential for Great Britain version 2.1

Radon is a natural radioactive gas, which enters buildings from the ground. The joint Public Health England (PHE) –British Geological Survey (BGS) digital dataset Radon Potential for Great Britain provides the current definitive map of radon Affected Areas in Great Britain. Exposure to high concentrations increases the risk of lung cancer. PHE (previously known as the Health Protection Agency or HPA) recommends that radon levels should be reduced in homes where the annual average is at or above 200 becquerels per cubic metre (200 Bq m-3). This is termed the Action Level. The PHE defines radon Affected Areas as those with 1% chance or more of a house having a radon concentration at or above the Action Level of 200 Bq m-3. The dataset allows an estimate to be made of the probability that an individual property is at or above the Action Level for radon. This information provides an answer to one of the standard legal enquiries on house purchase in England and Wales, known as CON29 standard Enquiry of Local Authority; 3.13 Radon Gas: Location of the Property in a Radon Affected Area. Radon Potential for Great Britain also provides information on the level of protection required for new buildings as described in the latest Building Research Establishment guidance on radon protective measures for new buildings (Radon: guidance on protective measures for new dwellings; BR 211, 2015 in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland). This radon potential hazard information for Great Britain is based on PHE indoor radon measurements and BGS digital geology information. This product was derived from BGS Geology 50 (formerly known as DigMap50 V3.14) and PHE in-house radon measurement data. The indoor radon data is used with the agreement of the PHE. Confidentiality of measurement locations is maintained through data management practices. Access to the data is under licence.

Default

Identification info

Metadata Language
English (en)
Dataset Reference Date ()
2011-06
Identifier

http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13605538

 

British Geological Survey

-

Enquiries


Environmental Science Centre, Nicker Hill, Keyworth

,

NOTTINGHAM

,

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

,

NG12 5GG

,

United Kingdom

0115 936 3143
0115 936 3276
 

British Geological Survey

-

Enquiries


Environmental Science Centre, Nicker Hill, Keyworth

,

NOTTINGHAM

,

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

,

NG12 5GG

,

United Kingdom

0115 936 3143
0115 936 3276
 

British Geological Survey

-

Enquiries


Environmental Science Centre, Nicker Hill, Keyworth

,

NOTTINGHAM

,

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

,

NG12 5GG

,

United Kingdom

0115 936 3143
0115 936 3276
 

British Geological Survey

-

Enquiries


 

British Geological Survey

-

Enquiries


Maintenance and update frequency
notEntered
GEMET - INSPIRE themes
  • Geology
BGS Thesaurus of Geosciences
  • Natural hazards

  • Geochemistry

  • Geology

  • Radon detection

Keywords
  • NERC_DDC

Limitations on Public Access
otherRestrictions
Other constraints
license
Other constraints
Either : (i) the dataset has not been formally approved by BGS for access and use by external clients under license; and / or (ii) the dataset contains 3rd party data or information obtained by BGS under terms and conditions that must be consulted before the dataset can be provided to, or accessed by, BGS staff or external clients. Refer to the BGS staff member responsible for the creation of the dataset if further advice is required. He / she should be familiar with the composition of the dataset, particularly with regard to 3rd party IPR contained in it, and any resultant access restrictions. This staff member should revert to the IPR Section (IPR@bgs.ac.uk) for advice, should the position not be clear.
Use constraints
otherRestrictions
Other constraints

The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, via the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Manager. Use by customers of information provided by the BGS, is at the customer's own risk. In view of the disparate sources of information at BGS's disposal, including such material donated to BGS, that BGS accepts in good faith as being accurate, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied, or to the information's suitability for any use. NERC/BGS accepts no liability whatever in respect of loss, damage, injury or other occurence however caused.

Other constraints

The dataset is made available to external clients under BGS Digital Data Licence terms and conditions. Revert to the IPR Section (iprdigital@bgs.ac.uk) if further advice is required with regard to permitted usage. iprdigital@bgs.ac The dataset is made available to external clients under BGS Digital Data Licence terms and conditions. Revert to the IPR Section (iprdigital@bgs.ac.uk) if further advice is required with regard to permitted usage.

Denominator
50000
Topic category
  • Geoscientific information
Extent

GBN

Dataset Reference Date ()
2009

Extent

GREAT BRITAIN [id=139600]

Dataset Reference Date ()
1979

N
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Begin date
2007
End date
2011
Additional information

The method by which this dataset was produced is published in: MILES, J.C.H, and APPLETON J.D., 2005. Mapping variation in radon potential both between and within geological units. Journal of Radiological Protection 25, 257-276. A simplified version of the full data set for England and Wales (showing only the maximum radon potential in each 1-km grid square) was published in 2007 (MILES J.C.H, APPLETON J.D, REES D.M, GREEN B.M.R, ADLAM K.A.M and MYERS, A.H., 2007. Indicative Atlas of Radon in England and Wales. HPA-RPD-033, ISBN: 978-0-85951-608-2. 29 pp). A simplified version of the full data set for Scotland (showing only the maximum radon potential in each 1-km grid square) was published in 2011 (MILES J.C.H, APPLETON J.D, REES D.M, ADLAM K.A.M, GREEN B.M.R, and SCHEIB, C., 2011. Indicative Atlas of Radon in Scotland. HPA-CRCE-023, ISBN: 978 0 85951-701-0 27 pp). Searches of the full dataset are available by postcode from www.UKradon.org or by site area from the BGS Enquiries service. A summary of the relationship between radon and geology in Wales is available in APPLETON, J.D. and MILES, J.C.H. 2005. Radon in Wales. pp. 117-130 In: Bassett, M.G., Deisler, V.K., Nichol, D. (Eds.), Urban Geology of Wales 2. National Museum of Wales Geological Series No. 24, Cardiff. A summary of the relationship between radon and geology in Scotland is available in SCHEIB C, APPLETON J D, MILES J C H, GREEN B M R, BARLOW T S, JONES D G 2009 Geological controls on radon potential in Scotland. Scottish Journal of Geology. 45(2) 147-160.

 

Spatial Reference System

No information provided.

Distribution Information

Data format
Resource Locator
https://www.bgs.ac.uk/datasets/radon-data-radon-potential-dataset/
Resource Locator
https://www.bgs.ac.uk/datasets/radon-data-radon-potential-dataset/
 
Quality Scope
dataset
Other

dataset

Report

Dataset Reference Date ()
2011
Explanation

See the referenced specification

Degree

Report

Dataset Reference Date ()
2010-12-08
Explanation

See http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:323:0011:0102:EN:PDF

Degree
Statement

The Radon Potential GB dataset is derived by combining a simplified version of the geology of Great Britain (BGS DiGMapGB 50 version 3.14 now known as BGS Geology 50) with indoor radon measurement data collected by the Health Protection Agency (now known as Public Health England (PHE)). The land area is first divided up into simplified geologies, a combination of bedrock and superficial geological characteristics, derived from BGS DiGMapGB 50 (1: 50 000 scale) digital geological map. A code bedrock/superficial (BS) code is assigned to each combined geology. Each different simplified geology may appear at the land surface in many discontinuous locations across the country. Each simplified geology is then divided in 1 Km squares by using the OS British National Grid. From this division results a list of spatially referenced KMBS (a simplification of 1 Km2 / BS) polygons containing information about both the simplified geology and the BNG 1km square. Public Health England has a database of houses in which long-term (3 to 6 months) measurements of radon concentration have been made, and whose locations are accurately known. Each of these measurements is allocated to the underlying geological polygon followed by actual measurements' coordinates stripping off. This procedure allows for anonymization of house data. Taking each simplified geology in turn, the spatial variation of radon potential is mapped, treating the geology as if it were continuous over the land area. Bedrock, stratigraphic (order in which rock layers are laid down) or lithological (rock characteristics) generalisations of the simplified geologies may be required to assure that the number of radon measurements is enough to estimation the radon potential. All of the maps of radon potential within different simplified geologies are then combined to produce a map of variation in radon potential over the whole land surface. This dataset formed the raw data on which processing was carried out to ensure all end-users would achieve consistent results. All data processing was carried out using ESRI ArcGIS 9.3.1 software.

Metadata

File identifier
9df8df53-2adc-37a8-e044-0003ba9b0d98 XML
Metadata Language
English (en)
Resource type
dataset
Metadata Date
2023-03-21
Metadata standard name
UK GEMINI
Metadata standard version

2.3

 

British Geological Survey


Environmental Science Centre,Keyworth

,

NOTTINGHAM

,

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

,

NG12 5GG

,

United Kingdom

+44 115 936 3100
 
 

Overviews

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