Atmospheric Pressure Effects on the Calibration Constant of Alpha-track Radon Detectors

Vasudevan, Latha; McLain, M. E.

doi:10.1097/00004032-199403000-00013

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…The indoor radon concentration was measured using CR-39 solid state nuclear track detector (SSNTD), which is one of the most reliable techniques for integrated and long-term measurement of indoor radon concentrations [13][14][15]. The detector is manufactured by Pershore Moldings Ltd. U.K.…”

Section: Experimental Details and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating Indoor Radon Levels and Influencing Factors in Primary Schools of Zulfi City, Saudi Arabia

Al-Ghamdi¹,

AlGarawi²,

Al-Mosa³

et al. 2011

AIP Conference Proceedings

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Measurement of indoor Concentrations were performed in Zulfi city of Saudi Arabia, using CR-39 track etch detectors .This investigation focused on the influence of different parameters, namely different locations, school categories, school building types, and room type as well as on the existence of differences in radon concentration at floor levels. We divided the Zulfi city into five regions, keeping in mind their geographical locations between Tuwaiq Mountains and Al-Thuwayrat sands. The measured average radon concentrations for regions 1-5 respectively are: 87.0 ± 14.2 Bq/m 3 , 83.4 ± 6.0 Bq/m 3 , 61.6 ± 6.4 Bq/m 3 , 63.7 ± 5.4 Bq/m 3 and 87.5 ± 6. Bq/m 3 and the minimum concentrations are 28.0 Bq/m 3 , 5.5 Bq/m 3 , 1.1 Bq/m 3 , 1.0 Bq/m 3 and 24 Bq/m 3 respectively. These results are still within normal limits and below the action level of 148 Bqm -3 set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A test of significance using Minitab program was applied to investigate if radon levels in regions are significantly different from each other. We tried all combinations, and found the following results. The "within regions" (different location) test yielded, region 2 is not significant versus region" 1" (p=0.783) and versus region "5" (P=0.646) , whereas it is significant versus region "3" ( P=0.0160) and also versus region "4" (p=0.018). We investigated government and rented school's building also and none was found significantly different (p=0.052). Floors of the same building were tested in order to examine the radon concentration as a function of storey level. No significant difference was observed at floor levels (p=0.009). When girl's schools versus Boys and kindergartens schools were tested they were found significantly different. It is believed that this significant difference is due to geographical nature of the area, since most of the girl's schools were selected from regions 2 and 3, these regions are relatively close to the Tuwaiq mountains whereas other regions are near to the Al-Thuwayrat sands.

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Section: Experimental Details and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating Indoor Radon Levels and Influencing Factors in Primary Schools of Zulfi City, Saudi Arabia

Al-Ghamdi¹,

AlGarawi²,

Al-Mosa³

et al. 2011

AIP Conference Proceedings

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“…The total number of tracks is proportional to the integrated radon concentration. Unlike activated charcoal adsorption devices, alpha-track detectors are not affected by humidity, but their results depend on altitude (especially above 2000 m), since air density can affect the distance that alpha particles can travel [ 33 ].…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Cost-Effective IoT System for Monitoring Indoor Radon Gas Concentration

Blanco-Novoa

Fernández‐Caramés

Fraga‐Lamas

et al. 2018

Sensors

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Radon is a noble gas originating from the radioactive decay chain of uranium or thorium. Most radon emanates naturally from the soil and from some building materials, so it can be found in many places around the world, in particular in regions with soils containing granite or slate. It is almost impossible for a person to detect radon gas without proper tools, since it is invisible, odorless, tasteless and colorless. The problem is that a correlation has been established between the presence of high radon gas concentrations and the incidence of lung cancer. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that the exposure to radon is the second most common cause of lung cancer after smoking, and it is the primary cause of lung cancer among people who have never smoked. Although there are commercial radon detectors, most of them are either expensive or provide very limited monitoring capabilities. To tackle such an issue, this article presents a cost-effective IoT radon gas remote monitoring system able to obtain accurate concentration measurements. It can also trigger events to prevent dangerous situations and to warn users about them. Moreover, the proposed solution can activate mitigation devices (e.g., forced ventilation) to decrease radon gas concentration. In order to show its performance, the system was evaluated in three different scenarios corresponding to representative buildings in Galicia (Spain), a region where high radon gas concentrations are common due to the composition of the soil. In addition, the influence of using external hardware (i.e., WiFi transceivers and an embedded System-on-Chip (SoC)) next to the radon gas sensor is studied, concluding that, in the tested scenarios, they do not interfere with the measurements.

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“…The advantages of such a type of dosimeter are: (i) simple heat sealing and hence low cost, (ii) small size and fast sampling time, (iii) high radon permeability, and (iv) elimination of water vapour. In addition, most of the radon dosimeters have a response which depends on the atmospheric pressure, since the sensitive volume (see subsection 2.2.3.2) depends on the range of alpha particles, which changes with pressure (Vasudevan and McLain, 1994). In contrast, the plastic bag sampler with polycarbonate degraders has little dependence on the atmospheric pressure, since the degrader is not the air but the plastic foil.…”

Section: 2232mentioning

confidence: 99%