Radon Level Measurements in Mencilis (Bulak) Cave

It is known that radiation exposure may harm living organisms when the radiation doses higher than a certain level. therefore, it is important to be aware of the radon levels in our surroundings. more than half of the natural radiation, that we are inevitably exposed, is originated from radon and radon daughters. in this study, the radon concentrations of mencilis (bulak) cave, the 4^th biggest cave of turkey which is located in safranbolu town of karabük city, have been determined by using passive nuclear track detectors. the detectors were located along the 350 meters walking route of the cave and were exposed to radon in the cave between the dates of november 2008 and january 2009 for a 70 days period. it was found from the analyses of detectors that, the radon levels in the open part of the cave ranged from 19 to 649 bq/m^3 with an average radon concentration of 205 bq/m^3. furthermore, the equivalent dose levels that would be taken by tourist guides and visitors have been calculated.