Rural communities experience higher radon exposure versus urban areas, potentially due to drilled groundwater well annuli acting as unintended radon gas migration conduits.

Repetitive, long-term inhalation of radioactive radon gas is one of the leading causes of lung cancer, with exposure differences being a function of geographic location, built environment, personal demographics, activity patterns, and decision-making. Here, we examine radon exposure disparities across the urban-to-rural landscape, based on 42,051 Canadian residential properties in 2034 distinct communities. People living in rural, lower population density communities experience as much as 31.

Field investigation of the transport and attenuation of fugitive methane in shallow groundwater around an oil and gas well with gas migration.

'Fugitive' or 'stray' gas migration from deeper formations due to well bore integrity failure has prompted concern regarding environmental impacts. Unintended methane (CH) migration can increase greenhouse gas emissions and affect groundwater quality in the critical zone. Although the CH transport in shallow aquifers has been investigated at experimental injection sites, no intensive groundwater studies have been published around an oil and gas well that has been leaking for a significant period of time.

In-Well Degassing of Monitoring Wells Completed in Gas-Charged Aquifers.

Total dissolved gas pressure (P ) measurements are useful to measure accurate in situ dissolved gas concentrations in groundwater, but challenged by in-well degassing. Although in-well degassing has been widely observed, its cause(s) are not clear. We investigated the mechanism(s) by which gas-charged groundwater in a recently pumped well becomes degassed.

Free-Phase Gas Detection in Groundwater Wells via Water Pressure and Continuous Field Parameters.

Detection of free-phase gas (FPG) in groundwater wells is critical for accurate assessment of dissolved gas concentrations and the occurrence of FPG in the subsurface, with consequent implications for understanding groundwater contamination and greenhouse gas emissions. However, identifying FPG is challenging during routine groundwater monitoring and there is poor agreement on the best approach to detect the occurrence of FPG in groundwater. In this study, laboratory experiments in a water column were designed to mimic nonflowing and flowing conditions in a groundwater well to evaluate how the presence of FPG affects water pressure and commonly used continuous field parameters.