TY - JOUR
T1 - Retrospective assessment of historic radon concentrations in Norwegian dwellings by measuring glass implanted Po-210 - An international field intercomparison
AU - Birovljev, Aleksandar
AU - Falk, Rolf
AU - Walsh, Ciara
AU - Bissolo, Francesca
AU - Trotti, Flavio
AU - McLaughlin, James P.
AU - Paridaens, Johan
AU - Vanmarcke, Hans
PY - 2001/5/14
Y1 - 2001/5/14
N2 - The first Norwegian study of historic radon concentrations in 17 dwellings in the high radon areas in Norway has been conducted as part of an international field intercomparison during 1998. The retrospective radon concentration is estimated via measurements of Po-210, the long-lived decay product of Rn-222 implanted in glass surfaces of objects like pictures, mirrors, cabinet-glass, etc. the method called 'surface trap'. Three different surface trap techniques to assess the implanted Po-210 activity and two different procedures to estimate retro radon from Po-210 data were used. The Po-210 and the retrospectively estimated radon results agree reasonably well over a wide range of concentrations. Historic radon concentrations were also estimated from analysis of a smaller number of 'volume trap' samples (pieces of spongy materials), and the results compared to those from 'surface traps'. The retro radon results correlate with contemporary radon results with a correlation coefficient of 0.877. To evaluate uncertainty in Po-210 measurements due to varying position on the glass a study of spatial homogeneity of three sample glasses was conducted and variations between 12% and 18% were found.
AB - The first Norwegian study of historic radon concentrations in 17 dwellings in the high radon areas in Norway has been conducted as part of an international field intercomparison during 1998. The retrospective radon concentration is estimated via measurements of Po-210, the long-lived decay product of Rn-222 implanted in glass surfaces of objects like pictures, mirrors, cabinet-glass, etc. the method called 'surface trap'. Three different surface trap techniques to assess the implanted Po-210 activity and two different procedures to estimate retro radon from Po-210 data were used. The Po-210 and the retrospectively estimated radon results agree reasonably well over a wide range of concentrations. Historic radon concentrations were also estimated from analysis of a smaller number of 'volume trap' samples (pieces of spongy materials), and the results compared to those from 'surface traps'. The retro radon results correlate with contemporary radon results with a correlation coefficient of 0.877. To evaluate uncertainty in Po-210 measurements due to varying position on the glass a study of spatial homogeneity of three sample glasses was conducted and variations between 12% and 18% were found.
KW - Intercomparison
KW - Norway
KW - Po-210
KW - Retrospective radon estimates
KW - Surface traps
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0035858702&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S0048-9697(01)00690-8
DO - 10.1016/S0048-9697(01)00690-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 11379908
AN - SCOPUS:0035858702
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 272
SP - 181
EP - 188
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
IS - 1-3
ER -