Etched track detectors are widely used for the detection of radon and its decay products. They have many desirable attributes: they are small, cheap, simple, non-toxic and non-hazardous. Etched track detectors provide adequate accuracy for most radiological protection purposes provided stringent quality assurance is maintained. The UK validation scheme provides an important component of QA but continuous monitoring of conditions and results is also needed. If these conditions are observed, these detectors provide an entirely adequate tool for large-scale use in assessing levels of radon in houses. Accurate estimates of long-term average radon levels require a measurement over several months because of the short-term fluctuations in radon concentrations.
An etched track detector has been developed for use in screening or indicative measurements of radon in homes over an exposure period of 14 days. If the annual mean radon concentration estimated from screening detector results is within a factor of two of the UK radon Action Level (200 Bq m(-3)), the householder is told that the result is uncertain, and advice on whether the home is above or below the Action Level must be based on the result of a (standard) 90 day measurement. The screening detectors are always supplied to householders together with detectors to be exposed for 90 days, so that if the screening result is reported as being uncertain (within the range 100-400 Bq m(-3)), a long-term measurement in the home is already under way. Comparison of the results of the screening (14 day) and standard (90 day) detectors exposed in the same homes shows that reporting screening results in this way did not result in any householders being wrongly advised. Short-term measurements can therefore be offered in those circumstances where a householder needs a faster indication of radon levels in a property (for example a house sale), with the caveat that a 14 day exposure result within a factor of two of the Action Level requires a long-term measurement to confirm whether the dwelling is above or below the Action Level. A precautionary uncertainty range for use with charcoal detector measurements is also given (75-500 Bq m(-3)).
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