Assessment of radon exhalation rates in dwellings in Poland

In the contemporary building technology in Poland there is a growing use of materials containing fly-ash and slag. These materials, containing considerable amount of 226Ra, are the source of lung exposure to α-radiation emitted by the radium gas product 222Rn and its daughters 218Po(RaA) and 214Po(RaC'). Previous studies carried out in Poland were confined to the measurements of concentrations of radon or its daughters in dwellings under limited ventilation conditions. However, the mean radon concentration may be found more precisely by determining the radon exhalation rate-the parameter describing the radon output to the dwellings atmosphere and being independent of ventilation conditions. In the present work radon exhalation rates are determined from measurements of particulate radon daughter concentrations: RaA, RaB and RaC. (author)