Radon kinetics in a natural indoor radon chamber

Chung, Long Kiu; Mata, Loren A.; Carmona, Marco A.; Shubayr, Nasser; Zhou, Qingxiang; Ye, Yongjun; Kearfott, Kimberlee J.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139167

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…As shown in Fig. 1, the 5 devices were placed in the basement space at a height of 74 cm from the floor and at least 50 cm from walls to avoid leaked radon from the soil sources biasing the measurements, although the extent of which is likely trivial (Chung et al 2020). The space was unventilated and separated from other rooms by double steel doors, which contribute to the existence of a high and steady radon concentration.…”

Section: Calibration and Steady-state Intercomparisonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When fans were turned off, the radon concentration buildup can be described by the following compartmental model (Chung et al 2020):…”

Section: Intercomparison With Ventilationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is considered inappropriate for comparing measurements to a standard (Legates and McCabe 1999;Ritter and Munoz-Carpena 2013), although the standard was arbitrarily selected. Chung et al (2020) later conducted a series of experiments in the same basement space, developing equations that model the radon concentration with ventilation. However, experimental verifications were only performed using a single active radon monitor with long measuring intervals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Radon Kinetics in a Basement Space Measured with Different Devices

2021

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Although indoor monitoring of radon and benchmarking of radon measurement devices remain important research topics, few intercomparisons of active radon measurement devices have been performed under realistic conditions, let alone dynamic ones enabling comparison of their transient behavior. Five different radon monitors were therefore placed in a poorly ventilated basement space under three different conditions: 24 h under a steady, elevated radon level, 24 h with fans turned on to produce a radon washout transient, and 9 d with fans turned off for a radon buildup transient. Resulting radon concentrations varied between ~200 and ~2,000 Bq m−3. Accuracy of the devices were evaluated using root-mean-square error, and ventilation data were fit to first order linear compartmental models. To more accurately model behaviors such as cyclic diurnal variations, the source term corresponding to entry of radon from soil into the basement was considered to be non-constant, as it is likely to vary drastically with both the indoor-outdoor pressure differential and soil concentration variations. The improved radon washout model fit very well with the measurements. Despite a wide variety in list prices, all devices performed similarly during transients and at different radon concentrations.

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Section: Calibration and Steady-state Intercomparisonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When fans were turned off, the radon concentration buildup can be described by the following compartmental model (Chung et al 2020):…”

Section: Intercomparison With Ventilationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Radon Kinetics in a Basement Space Measured with Different Devices

2021

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“…In addition to small chambers, calibrations could also be conducted in natural spaces with high radon if conditions are relatively constant and can be readily characterized. One such space is an unventilated storage room separated by double steel doors from the remainder of the basement and surrounded by soil with high radon concentration (Xie et al 2015; Chung et al 2020). That space experiences both diurnal and seasonal radon concentrations with periods of relative constancy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radon-222 Charcoal Canister Steady State Model Calibrations Performed in a Highly Controlled Environmental Chamber and a Natural Indoor Environment

et al. 2022

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Charcoal canisters are a common method of 222Rn screening. The calibrations of different batches of activated charcoal used in different canister designs are typically performed in large volume controlled environmental chambers with known and controlled radon concentration, temperature, and humidity. Radon screening could be facilitated in locations without ready access to environmental chambers if canisters could be accurately calibrated and undergo quality control in less controlled environments. This study compares charcoal canister calibrations from a highly controlled radon chamber with calibrations from a basement storage area experiencing temporally varying radon. In addition, the impacts of exposure time and spectral region of interest selection on calibration accuracy are investigated by comparing calibrations calculated using three different choices. Approximately 30 mo after calibrations were completed, groups of canisters were exposed for different durations of time to investigate measurement accuracy and calibration validity over an extended time. A digital simulation of charcoal canister kinetics was also performed to establish limits on how stable radon must be in a space for equilibrium-based calibration to be performed there. Overall, the accuracy of measurements using calibrations from each space differed by less than 10% after 2 d exposure time, showing that carefully controlled conditions are not necessary for the accurate calibration of charcoal canisters. Measurement accuracy differed by less than 2% for different spectral region selections. Accuracy improved slightly with canister exposure duration. Simulations suggest that radon instability is most tolerable near the beginning of canister calibration exposures, but this merits further experimental study.

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“…

Radon is produced from rocks and soils containing significant concentrations of U 238 and its decay products (Peto & Darby, 1994). It is transported through the rocks and soils by diffusion and advection (Chen et al, 1995;Othman et al, 2021), ultimately being either dispersed harmlessly in the atmosphere or leaching into buildings through their foundations, where high concentrations can accumulate if the building is not ventilated (Chung et al, 2020). The worldwide average (UNSCEAR, 2000) Ra 226 activity is 39 Bq/kg.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased Radon Exposure From Thawing of Permafrost Due To Climate Change

Glover

Blouin

2022

Earth's Future

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Radon is produced from rocks and soils containing significant concentrations of U 238 and its decay products (Peto & Darby, 1994). It is transported through the rocks and soils by diffusion and advection (Chen et al., 1995;Othman et al., 2021), ultimately being either dispersed harmlessly in the atmosphere or leaching into buildings through their foundations, where high concentrations can accumulate if the building is not ventilated (Chung et al., 2020). The worldwide average (UNSCEAR, 2000) Ra 226 activity is 39 Bq/kg. The diffusive and advective transport of radon through the soil is controlled by the porosity, fluid saturations, diffusion coefficients, and

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Radon kinetics in a natural indoor radon chamber

Cited by 14 publications

References 33 publications

Radon Kinetics in a Basement Space Measured with Different Devices

Radon Kinetics in a Basement Space Measured with Different Devices

Radon-222 Charcoal Canister Steady State Model Calibrations Performed in a Highly Controlled Environmental Chamber and a Natural Indoor Environment

Increased Radon Exposure From Thawing of Permafrost Due To Climate Change

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