News Archive
Coming to the 68th Health Physics Society (HPS) Annual Meeting in National Harbor in July? The HPS Environmental/Radon Section's special session Radon in the Oil and Gas Industry will be held Monday, 24 July. Part 1 is 10–11:45 am, and Part 2 is 2:30–5 pm.
Our keynote speaker is Dr. Petros Koutrakis from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In this 50-minute talk, "Assessing Exposures and Health Effects of Particle Radioactivity: An Emerging Research Field," Koutrakis will show results of studies on the long-lived radon decay products (lead-210 and polonium-210) and their noncancer impacts of PM 2.5 (soot). "Specifically, we have generated new information showing that exposures to Rn as well as PM gross α-, β-, and γ-activities are associated with numerous adverse health outcomes, including blood pressure; oxidative stress; cardiac, lung, and liver function; gestational diabetes and hypertension; and total and cardiopulmonary mortality. These observations provide strong scientific evidence for our hypothesis that inhaled Rn progeny and other radionuclides, measured as PR, can have direct health effects through stimulation of inflammatory and oxidative processes." In addition, two of Dr. Koutrakis's researchers, L. Li and C.L. Zilli Vieira, will also present "Unconventional Oil and Gas Development and Ambient Particle Radioactivity," showing associations between large well fields and down gradient impacts, and "Impact of Radon Exposures on Non-Cancer Outcomes and Future Perspectives."
The afternoon session will feature Art Rood presenting "Factors Influencing Spatial Variability in Background Radon Concentrations in Ambient Air," Consultant Bill Lemons talking about The Impact of Radon-222 and Its Progeny in Natural Gas and Natural Gas Liquids," and finally, Dave Allard giving an update on "NORM, TENORM and Radon in Pennsylvania, and Impact from O&G Industry Activities." Following the special session, the Environmental/Radon Section Business Meeting will be held at 4:30.
I urge you to make a note in your program to attend this very important special session—Monday, 24 July, in Room Baltimore 3.
