The early Miocene Murree Formation, late Miocene Nagri Formation and recent alluvium rock
units are exposed in the sub-Himalayas of the Bagh area, State of Azad Jammu and Kashmir,
Pakistan. The Bagh area was badly affected by the Kashmir earthquake of October 8th 2005
which, along the Muzaffarabad Fault, deformed both the hanging and footwall blocks. The
cracks, joints, fissures and fractures in houses and bedrocks might have affected the
emission of radon to the surface. Indoor radon concentration measurements were carried out
in some dwellings of the Bagh area, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. The measurements were based on
passive integrative detection of radon using CN-85 plastic track detectors in box-type
dosimeters. The radon concentration in dwellings was between 50 ± 11.6 Bq·m-3
and 167.1 ± 21.4 Bq·m-3with an overall average of 95.1 ± 15.8
Bq·m-3(geometric mean = 93.4 Bq·m-3). The average radon
concentrations in pucka, semi-pucka and kucha houses were 97.6 ± 15.4 Bq·m-3,
89.7 ± 15.2 Bq·m-3 and 101.9 ± 15.9 Bq·m-3, respectively. The
mean values of radon concentrations in the Nagri Formation, Murree Formation and recent
alluvium lithology were 99.3 ± 15.8, 90.1 and 96.2 ± 15.5 Bq·m-3,
respectively. The annual effective dose to the Bagh population was calculated as 2.38 ±
0.77 (1.33 ± 0.2 to 4.7 ± 0.5) mSv. The average radon (95.1 ± 15.8
Bq·m-3) concentration in dwellings for the inhabitants of the Bagh area was
safe from radon-related health hazards and was within the recommended action level (ICRP
publication 65 (1993) Protection against radon at home and at work, International
Commission on Radiological Protection, Ann. ICRP 23(2)).The indoor radon
values obtained in the present study are more than the world average of 40
Bq·m-3 (UNSCEAR (2000) United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of
Atomic radiation, Report to the General Assembly, United Nations, New York).