Indoor Concentration of Radon in Residential Houses Proximal to Gold Mine Tailings–A Review of Sub-Saharan Africa Studies

The aim of the study was to synthesise existing literature in order to determine the concentration and exposure to indoor radon among households proximal to gold mine tailings in Sub-Saharan Africa. The objective was to conduct a review of scientific studies on health effects of indoor radon concentrations in households proximal to gold mine tailings in the Sub-Saharan Africa and to describe the indoor radon concentration levels in houses proximal to gold mine tailings in Sub-Saharan Africa. A quantitative systematic review was conducted by reviewing previous studies relevant to the research objectives. The review was designed and carried out in accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic and Meta Analyses) guidelines. Various search engines were search for eligible scientific articles. A PRISMA flow diagram was used to exclude ineligible studies and ultimately five studies were retrieved and selected for further analysis. A traffic light plot was utilised to assess the risk of bias for included studies. Characteristics of included studies were presented on a table to determine the radon concentrations and health effects of residents proximal to gold mine tailings. 60% of the reviewed studies were conducted in South Africa, 20% in Cameroon and another 20% in Ghana. Only one study observed the health effects associated with radon exposure. Results showed that exposure to radon poses a risk of lung cancer and moreover people residing proximal to gold mine tailings are exposed to radon concentration levels above 100 Bq/m³ recommended by the World Health Organisation.