ABSTRACT
Soil gas radon and soil gas permeability measurements were conducted at 32 sites across the five most populated communities in the city of Ottawa where indoor radon measurements were available for 167 houses. A soil radon index (SRI) determined from the soil radon concentration and the soil gas permeability was used to characterise radon availability from soil to air. This study demonstrated that the average SRI in a community area correlates with the indoor radon potential (the percentage of homes above 200 Bq m(-3)) in that community. Soil gas radon concentrations together with soil gas permeability measurements can be a useful tool for the prediction of the indoor radon potential in the development of a Canadian radon risk map.
Subject(s)
Air Pollution, Indoor/adverse effects , Air Pollution, Indoor/analysis , Radon/adverse effects , Radon/analysis , Soil Pollutants/adverse effects , Soil Pollutants/analysis , Air Pollutants, Radioactive/adverse effects , Air Pollutants, Radioactive/analysis , Humans , Ontario , Permeability , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
Vapour barrier membranes are often used as soil gas retarder in building construction. While vapour permeance characteristics of these membranes are well known and specified in Canadian standards, their radon diffusion coefficients are yet not available. This study provides test results of radon diffusion coefficients for 10 vapour barrier membranes commonly used in Canadian building construction.
Subject(s)
Air Pollutants, Radioactive/analysis , Construction Materials/analysis , Radon/analysis , Air Pollution, Indoor/analysis , Air Pollution, Indoor/prevention & control , Air Pollution, Radioactive/analysis , Air Pollution, Radioactive/prevention & control , Algorithms , Canada , Diffusion , Permeability , Radiometry/instrumentationABSTRACT
The long-term monitoring of soil radon variations was conducted at two reference sites in Ottawa. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a single soil radon survey could provide a representative soil radon characteristic of the site. Results showed that during the normal field survey period from June to September in Canada, a single field survey with multiple measurements of soil gas radon concentrations at a depth of 80 cm can characterise the soil radon level of a site within a deviation of +/-30%. Direct in situ soil permeability measurements exhibited, however, large variations even within an area of only 10 x 10 m(2). Considering such large variations and the weight of the equipment, soil permeability can be determined by direct measurements whenever possible or by other qualitative evaluation methods for sites that are hard to access with heavy equipment.
