This study presents and discusses the results of soil radon monitoring at three different volcano sites and one reference site, from December 2007 to January 2009. This relates to the activity of the Popocatepetl Volcano and a radon survey and gamma-ray spectrometry in the area between Paso de Cortes and Tlamacas Mountain, and in the adjacent regions. The results are applied to the aspects of atmosphere electricity and lithosphere-atmosphere coupling in relation to the forecasting of volcano and earthquake activity. The monitoring of radon release reveals a decrease in radon concentration (down to total suppression) with approaching moderate volcanic eruptions. The behavior of the radon activity at the Tlamacas site is more apparent, compared to other observational sites. The average level of radon release observed at the Tlamacas site is much higher, with some characteristic variations. Both the radon survey and gamma-ray spectrometry indicate intensive diffusion radon emission localized in the area of Tlamacas Mountain. The average radon concentration in the area of Tlamacas is about 10-20-fold greater than the background volcano values. The new concept of lithosphere-atmosphere coupling is presented: intensive radon release in high elevated areas shortens and modifies the Earth-to-thunderclouds electric circuit, which provokes microdischarges into the air close to the ground, attracting lightning discharges. This concept attempts to explain in a new way the noise-like geomagnetic emissions registered before major earthquakes, and it promotes interest for the study of thunderstorm activity in seismo-active zones, as a promising instrument for earthquake forecasting.

This paper discusses the problem of assessing the negative after-effects of low doses of ionising radiation exposure in humans. Radon and its decay daughter products are the most widespread source of such irradiation. Miners (in both uranium and non-uranium mines) as well as laypeople in domestic life may be exposed to radon, making the problem of assessing the cytogenetic effects of exposure extremely crucial. One of the more promising test systems to assess the effect of radon is the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay (CBMN) on peripheral blood lymphocytes, which has a number of advantages over other cytogenetic techniques. Recent progress and future prospects of this cytogenetic method are discussed here.
Open Journal of Genetics, 2014, 4, 1-7

Estimating the effects of small doses of ionising radiation on DNA is one of the most important problems in modern biology. Different cytogenetic methods exist to analyse DNA damage; the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay (CBMN) for human peripheral blood lymphocytes is a simple, cheap and informative cytogenetic method that can be used to detect genotoxic-related markers. With respect to previous studies on radiationinduced genotoxicity, children are a poorly studied group, as evidenced by the few publications in this area. In this study, we assessed radon genotoxic effects by counting micronuclei (MN), nucleoplasmic bridges (NPBs)and nuclear buds (NBUDs) in the lymphocytes of children who are long-term residents from areas with high radon concentrations. In the exposed group, radon was found to cause significant cytogenetic alterations. We propose that this method can be employed for biomonitoring to screen for a variety of measures.
Journal of Radiation Research, 2014, 55, 61–66