A comparison of radon and its decay products' behaviour in indoor air

Trevisi, Rosabianca; Cardellini, F.; Leonardi, Federica; Trassierra, C. Vargas; Franci, D.

doi:10.1093/rpd/ncu253

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Therefore, since EF represents the most suitable metric for the evaluation of risk due to exposure to radon, the effect of airborne particles generated solely through gas combustion can be considered negligible in terms of radon risk enhancement. The authors point out that the maximum-to-background EF ratio was chosen, instead of the absolute maximum EF value, since background EF values can vary even for similar airborne particle and radon concentrations as demonstrated in previous papers [57].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of indoor-generated airborne particles on radon progeny dynamics

Trassierra

Stabile

Cardellini

et al. 2016

Journal of Hazardous Materials

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In order to investigate the interaction between radon progeny and particles, an experimental campaign was carried out in a radon chamber at the Italian National Institute of Ionizing Radiation Metrology, quantifying the amount of attached and unattached radon daughters present in air, as well as the equilibrium factor in the presence of particles generated through indoor sources. A fixed radon concentration was maintained, while particles were generated using incense sticks, mosquito coils and gas combustion. Aerosols were characterized in terms of particle concentrations and size distributions. Simultaneously, radon concentration and attached/unattached potential alpha energy concentration in the air were continuously monitored by two different devices, based on alpha spectroscopy techniques. The presence of particles was found to affect the attached fraction of radon decay products, in such a way that the particles acted as a sink for radionuclides. In terms of sources which emit large particles (e.g. incense, mosquito coils), which greatly increase particle surface area concentrations, the Equilibrium Factor was found to double with respect to the background level before particle generation sessions. On the contrary, the radon decay product dynamics were not influenced by gas combustion processes, mainly due to the small surface area of the particles emitted.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of indoor-generated airborne particles on radon progeny dynamics

Trassierra

Stabile

Cardellini

et al. 2016

Journal of Hazardous Materials

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“…A low aerosol particle concentration (ranging between 150 and 400 #/cm 3 with a mode of 20nm) provided a low average value of F and a high value of fp may be due to the predominance of the plateout processes on the attachment to aerosol. However, in a small room plateout is quicker than attachment to aerosol particles, thus f p , was higher than in the large room particles [13].…”

Section: Tests Without Aerosol Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 81%

Behaviour Analysis of Indoor Radioactive Aerosols

Tokonami

2023

FSAR

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The deposition of radioactive aerosols from radon daughter, which are potentially harmful to human health. The inhalation of short-lived radon decay products (RnPs) yields the greatest contribution to natural radiation exposure. This research deals with a study carried out to improve the knowledge of the behaviour of RnPs, their interaction with particulates and the plate-out during the time. The tests confirmed that a high aerosol particle concentration increases the probability that an ion sticks to aerosol and remains long in the air, leading to both an increase in equilibrium factor (F) and a decrease of unattached fraction (f p ). The results performed in a radon calibration chamber (free of particles) showed a reduction of F (and the average of ~ 0.1 %) because in an environment the plate-out phenomenon prevails over the attachment to particulate. Besides, the high circulation fan speed (~2.9 ms -1 ) in the radon calibration chamber has been a more significant effect on the plate-out of attached radon progeny (~0.040±0.002 Bq cm -2 h -1 ).

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“…Attached In theoretical calculations, various AMD values are considered for unattached RnP, including, for instance, 0.9 nm [58], 0.5-5 nm [107], or 0.5-1 nm [108]. Or, instead of attached-unattached, the particle size is classified as nucleation (50 nm), accumulation (250 nm), and coarse modes (1500 nm) [109].…”

Section: Unattachedmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Taking this into account, the calculation would show [126] that a time delay of even more than an hour [139] necessarily appears between a change in aerosol characteristics and a change in f u RnP . Therefore, for short changes in aerosol, the above relationship appears to be masked or even totally obscured [107,231,235].…”

Section: Candle Burningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radon and Its Short-Lived Products in Indoor Air: Present Status and Perspectives

Vaupotič

2024

Sustainability

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Initially, basic equations are given to express the activity concentrations and concentrations of potential α-energies of radon (222Rn) and thoron (220Tn) and their short-lived products in indoor air. The appearance of short-lived products as a radioactive aerosol is shown, and the fraction of the unattached products is particularly exposed, a key datum in radon dosimetry. This fundamental part is followed by giving the sources of radon and thoron indoors, and thus, their products, and displaying the dependence of their levels on the ground characteristics, building material and practice, and living–working habits of residents. Substantial hourly, daily, and seasonal changes in their activity concentrations are reviewed, as influenced by meteorological parameters (air temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind speed) and human activity (either by ventilation, air conditioning and air filtration, or by generating aerosol particles). The role of the aerosol particle concentration and their size distribution in the dynamics of radon products in indoor air has been elucidated, focusing on the fraction of unattached products. Intensifying combined monitoring of radon short-lived products and background aerosol would improve radon dosimetry approaches in field and laboratory experiments. A profound knowledge of the influence of meteorological parameters and human activities on the dynamics of the behaviour of radon and thoron accompanied by their products in the air is a prerequisite to managing sustainable indoor air quality and human health.

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A comparison of radon and its decay products' behaviour in indoor air

Cited by 6 publications

References 4 publications

Effect of indoor-generated airborne particles on radon progeny dynamics

Effect of indoor-generated airborne particles on radon progeny dynamics

Behaviour Analysis of Indoor Radioactive Aerosols

Radon and Its Short-Lived Products in Indoor Air: Present Status and Perspectives

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