During this year’s Radon Week, the European Radon Association (ERA) Executive Committee announced the winners of two awards: “Lifetime Achievement” and “Recent Outstanding Research or Work in the Radon Field “. During the conference, the special honours were awarded to Dr. James McLaughlin for his lifelong dedication to radon research, and to The European Atlas of Natural Radiation for its invaluable contribution to public knowledge.
Per Nilsson, President of the ERA, said: “The awards are an opportunity to showcase some of the excellent work that is being produced by our radon community across Europe. This year we had some outstanding candidates which really demonstrates the depth of innovation in our sector. James fully deserves his award recognition as his tireless efforts over the years has really helped raise awareness of the health implications that radon poses.”
Dr. James McLaughlin, who was the first ERA President, has been working on radon for decades and his research has been referenced worldwide. His experience encompasses atmospheric electricity/aerosols, indoor radon and thoron surveys, exhalation from building materials, mineral exploration and geophysics, detectors and intercomparisons, radon and other indoor air pollutants, and retrospective exposure assessments. During his career he has worked with the IAEA, WHO, EC, ICRU, and ERA.
On accepting his award, James provided pointers for the future of the ERA stating the need to strengthen links with the medical profession, indoor air scientists, and radon and related associations worldwide. He also emphasised the importance of focusing on radon basics such as developments in lung dosimetry, general population radon epidemiological studies, and detector intercalibrations both in the laboratory and in the field. Follow this link for a short video of James accepting his award with past and present ERA presidents.
The European Atlas of Natural Radiation (EANR) received the award for most outstanding research. The European Atlas of Natural Radiation was produced by The Radioactivity Environmental Monitoring (REM) group of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission which provides qualified information about the level of environmental radioactivity to the public, Member States, European Commission and European Parliament.
The EANR is a collection of maps of Europe displaying levels of natural radioactivity caused by different sources (e.g. indoor radon, cosmic radiation, terrestrial gamma radiation, and natural radionuclides in soil and bedrock). The atlas provides reference values and harmonised data for the scientific community and national competent authorities. It also helps the public to become familiar with the natural radioactive environment. An online version of the atlas is available here and if you want to download the latest version follow this link.
Dr. Giorgia Cinelli, who is currently working at the DG of Energy at the European Commission, accepted the award and said: “I am delighted to accept this award for the work conducted on the EANR. The award is undoubtedly the Nobel prize of radon research. The research is only possible due to the collaborative work of our radon community which provided the material for the publication of the research project. Compiling all of this data from 36 countries empowers our community and provides greater visibility. It is a very ambitious project and a tangible example of what can be achieved when people work together for a common objective.”
