The French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) and the French Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority (ASNR) have launched a joint epidemiological study called CORALE (COmposante RadioLogique de l'Exposome). The aim of this study is to reconstruct the radiological exposure of 42,000 volunteers who are members of a larger cohort, the CONSTANCES cohort.
Reconstructing exposure over a lifetime is a very ambitious challenge, especially as some of the members of the CORALE cohort may have lived outside mainland France in which the cohort members were recruited, in countries where ambient dose rates are not necessarily measured on a regular basis, or where the results are not easily available tothe public. The scientists leading the CORALE study therefore called on OpenRadiation community to supplement their data, particularly in the following countries: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Niger, Lebanon, Mali, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. Taking measurements in territories such as New Caledonia and Mayotte would also be useful. We already have some results for the French Pacific Islands and in French Guyana, thanks to active contributors in this geographical area.
What do you have to do if you are willing to help? Take measurements, or have someone you know take measurements (ideally, at several points in each city visited), while you're out and about, using a compatible sensor, and publish the results on the Openradiation map. The data will then be available to all and used by the team of scientists leading the CORALE study. We can also lend detectors for use over a short period, during a trip to one of these countries for example.
We will shortly be creating a space on the website dedicated to the CORALE study, which will enable you to follow the progress of this project.
Now it's time to check that :
- the sensor battery is fully charge,
- that the phone has the latest version of the application
- and to go and take some measurements, 1 metre above the ground and preferably outside. As far as possible please make several measurements at different places in the same settlement so that meaningful statistics can be made.
For more information :
https://asnr.hal.science/irsn-04607518v3 https://www.constances.fr/en/home/
https://hal.science/hal-05023424v1
To contact the team in charge of the study and for any questions about this project: openradiation@gmail.com