Photon attenuation, natural radioactivity content and radon exhalation rate of building materials

Petropoulos, N.P.; Anagnostakis, M.J.; Simopoulos, S.E.

doi:10.1016/s0265-931x(01)00132-1

Cited by 86 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The average radon emissions for gypsum and concrete are 4 Bq/m 2 /h and 8 Bq/m 2 /h, respectively, calculated based on over 300 measurements of these common building materials (Ingersoll, 1983;Mustonen, 1984;Chao and Tung, 1999;Petropoulos et al, 2002;Stoulos et al, 2003;Maged and Ashraf, 2005;de Jong et al, 2006;Kobeissi et al, 2008;Ngachin et al, 2008;Sonkawade et al, 2008). Although the average radon emission rates for these building materials are similar to granite measured in this study (3.9 Bq/m 2 /h) and in the scientific literature (1 Bq/m 2 /h; 15 studies cited in the first paragraph of the Discussion), it is important to consider the mass of material in a home that may be emitting radon.…”

Section: Estimated Indoor Radon Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Radon flux for these stones has been previously reported to range from 0.01 to 13.5 Bq/m 2 /h among B500 samples of structural and unidentified granite building materials obtained from several nations of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East (Khan et al, 1992;Chao and Tung, 1999;El-Dine et al, 2001;al-Jarallah, 2001;al-Jarallah et al, 2001al-Jarallah et al, , 2005Petropoulos et al, 2002;Fazal ur et al, 2003;Stoulos et al, 2003;Sundar et al, 2003;Arafa, 2004;Osmanlioglu, 2006;Singh et al, 2008;Sonkawade et al, 2008). The extent to which the granite samples examined in those studies represent inventories of natural stone countertops has not been evaluated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Assessing exposure to granite countertops—part 2: Radon

Allen¹,

Minegishi²,

Myatt³

et al. 2009

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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Radon gas ( 222 Rn) is a natural constituent of the environment and a risk factor for lung cancer that we are exposed to as a result of radioactive decay of radium ( 226 Ra) in stone and soil. Granite countertops, in particular, have received recent media attention regarding their potential to emit radon. Radon flux was measured on 39 full slabs of granite from 27 different varieties to evaluate the potential for exposure and examine determinants of radon flux. Flux was measured at up to six pre-selected locations on each slab and also at areas identified as potentially enriched after a full-slab scan using a Geiger-Muller detector. Predicted indoor radon concentrations were estimated from the measured radon flux using the CONTAM indoor air quality model. Whole-slab average emissions ranged from less than limit of detection to 79.4 Bq/m 2 /h (median 3.9 Bq/m 2 /h), similar to the range reported in the literature for convenience samples of small granite pieces. Modeled indoor radon concentrations were less than the average outdoor radon concentration (14.8 Bq/m 3 ; 0.4 pCi/l) and average indoor radon concentrations (48 Bq/m 3 ; 1.3 pCi/l) found in the United States. Significant within-slab variability was observed for stones on the higher end of whole slab radon emissions, underscoring the limitations of drawing conclusions from discrete samples.

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Section: Estimated Indoor Radon Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Assessing exposure to granite countertops—part 2: Radon

Allen¹,

Minegishi²,

Myatt³

et al. 2009

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Other radionuclides of the uranium series such as 238 U and 210 Pb, emitting low energy photons, are not determined in many scientific works assuming that its contribution to the dose is low. The above assumption is seldom checked mainly because of the difficulties in the analysis of low energy photons by gamma spectrometry [14]. Among the techniques used to solve that kind of problem, one is based on the direct determination of 226 Ra and 235 U from the analysis of the multiplet photopeak at 186.25 + 185.75 keV.…”

Section: Gamma Spectometry Of the Determination Of Natural Radioactivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some authors assume secular equilibrium to facilitate the radiometric determinations, and certainly in oil samples it could exists, but this assumption is not valid especially in the case of industrial byproducts, as the fly-ash and bottom-ash (slag) from power plants. The disequilibrium among the isotopes of the natural series is caused by the combustion process, due to the different physical and chemical properties of the uranium, radium and lead [14].…”

Section: Gamma Spectometry Of the Determination Of Natural Radioactivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Radioactivity concentration and heavy metal content in fuel oil and oil-ashes in Venezuela

et al. 2005

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Environmental radiation levels are modified in regions where the oil industrial activity is more aggressive, such as in the Zulia State and the Orinoco´s Oil Belt. In these regions Venezuela is producing 1750 thousand barrels of oil from the near-to-the-surface or deep oil drilling, being its 2003 total OPEC market share 2932 thousand barrels of oil per day [1]. Petroleum constitutes an important source of energy and as the majority of natural sources it contains radionuclides and their disintegration products. The combustion of oil concentrates in the ashes those radioelements, which later enters the environment by different pathways producing adverse effects on the quality of man life. The concentration of radioelements varies greatly between oil fields, and then still requiring local survey studies in this area. Moreover due to the recent national interest in recycling processes, it becomes important to take care in the selection of materials that may contain by-products of industrial origin. In fact the oil ashes and other mining by-products are employable in the building industry. The concentration of radioactivity and heavy metals in crude oil, fuel oil Nº 6 and the ashes from power plants were determined. The analysis includes the two major thermoelectric power plants in Venezuela, Ricardo Zuluaga on the northern seaside of Caracas and Planta Centro on the littoral of Carabobo State. The study covers different samples: fuel oil No 6, heavy and medium petroleum as well as fuel Oil No6 ashes. Gamma spectrometry was used for measuring 226Ra, 214Pb, 214Bi, 228Ac, 212Pb, 212Bi, 208Tl and 40K, and heavy metallic cations were determined by ICP-MS, which also allows the direct determination of 232Th and 238U. In this material (oil ashes) the total activity concentration is above 300 Bq.kg-1. Some criteria from the literature have been compared and used to investigate the applicability of oil ashes as an additive for building materials. The combustion concentrate also heavy metal cations, as is the case of Pb, Ni, Mn, V, Zn among others. The found high metal concentrations can represent an important environmental risk since the high amount of sulfates in the Venezuelan oil and ashes contributes to their dissolution and bioavailability

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“…A very large scatter of data for radionuclide content in fly ash can be found between different countries (Nuccetelli et al, 2015) and only limited data can be found for Serbian fly ash (Kisic et al, 2013). Several studies found that the natural radionuclide content in fly ash can be significantly high (Somlai et al, 1999(Somlai et al, , 2006Petropoulos et al, 2002;Stojanovska et al, 2010). Therefore, utilization of FA as a supplementary material in cement production can cause a dose contribution to residents as a result of bulk inbuilt of concrete.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiological and material characterization of high volume fly ash concrete

Ignjatović

Sas

Dragaš

et al. 2017

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

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The main goal of research presented in this paper was the material and radiological characterization of high volume fly ash concrete (HVFAC) in terms of determination of natural radionuclide content and radon emanation and exhalation coefficients. All concrete samples were made with a fly ash content between 50% and 70% of the total amount of cementitious materials from one coal burning power plant in Serbia. Physical (fresh and hardened concrete density) and mechanical properties (compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and modulus of elasticity) of concrete were tested. The radionuclide content ( 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K) and radon massic exhalation of HVFAC samples were determined using gamma spectrometry.Determination of massic exhalation rates of HVFAC and its components using radon accumulation chamber techniques combined with a radon monitor was performed. The results show a beneficial effect of pozzolanic activity since the increase in fly ash content resulted in an increase in compressive strength of HVFAC by approximately 20% for the same mass of cement used in the mixtures. On the basis of the obtained radionuclide content of concrete components the I-indexes of different HVFAC samples were calculated and compared with measured values (0.27 -0.32), which were significantly below the recommended 1.0 index value. The prediction was relatively close to the measured values as the ratio between the calculated and measured I-index ranged between 0.89 and 1.14. Collected results of mechanical and radiological properties and performed calculations clearly prove that all 10 designed concretes with a certain type of fly ash are suitable for structural and non-structural applications both from a material and radiological point of view. KeywordsFly ash, Concrete, NORM, I-index, Radon exhalation 1. Introduction BackgroundThe building industry has one of the largest environmental impacts among all human activities:an annual consumption of 10 -11 billion tons of aggregate (Meyer, 2002) and 4.18 billion tons of cement (USGS, 2015). Apart from extremely high resource and energy consumption, cement production is a significant source of CO2 emissions, accounting for approximately 4.4% of global CO2 emissions from industry in 2007(Boden et al., 2010.There are many ideas that have been proposed to make concrete "greener" and more sustainable but they are all based on two principles: reuse and reduce. Concepts based on the "reduce" principle are oriented towards decreasing cement production based on natural materials and result in a reduction in CO2 emissions. With respect to the requirements for concrete as the world's most used man-made material, a lower production of Ordinary Portland cement must be compensated with alternative sources of binders in concrete production. There are several industrial sectors which produce significant amounts of residues such as fly ash (FA), bottom ash, red mud, steel slag, nonferrous slag, etc. which can be used for that purpose (Shi et al., 2006).Millions of tons of FA,...

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Photon attenuation, natural radioactivity content and radon exhalation rate of building materials

Cited by 86 publications

References 7 publications

Assessing exposure to granite countertops—part 2: Radon

Assessing exposure to granite countertops—part 2: Radon

Radioactivity concentration and heavy metal content in fuel oil and oil-ashes in Venezuela

Radiological and material characterization of high volume fly ash concrete

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