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Investigations in Special “High Radon Areas” In Germany
Author(s) -
Keller G.,
Schütz M.,
Khan A. J.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
indoor air
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.387
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 1600-0668
pISSN - 0905-6947
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0668.1992.00007.x
Subject(s) - radon , uranium , environmental science , soil gas , mineralogy , geology , hydrology (agriculture) , soil water , soil science , geotechnical engineering , materials science , metallurgy , nuclear physics , physics
The main source of high radon concentration indoors is the exhalation of radon from the soil. In the western part of Germany, two interesting regions, “Eifel” and “Hunsrück”, are selected for these radon investigations. The first region is an area with silt and sandstone of low uranium content but with tectonic fractures caused by postvolcanic activity, whereas in the part of the “Hunsrück” under consideration, the uranium concentration in the ground formerly allowed the extraction of uranium ores. An electrostatic deposit of the first radon daughter (Polonium‐218‐ion) onto a surface barrier detector and the subsequent analysis of the measured alpha spectra enables the determination of the concentration of radon in dwellings, its diffusion through and its exhalation rate from the soil. A maximum indoor concentration of radon of 8 kBq★m −3 in a bedroom and approximately 35 kBq★m −3 in a cellar room were determined in a house built in 1976. The daily variation between the minimum and the maximum concentration indoors amounts to a factor of ten. In these regions the radon concentration outdoors varies between 20 and 150 Bq★m −3 . The exhalation rates of radon from the soil are found to range from 0.002 to 1 Bq★m −2★ S −1 The effects of sealing the ground slab with polyurethane and removing the air under the ground slab by suction will be presented.