An overview of instrumentation for measuring environmental radon and radon progeny

Instruments for the measurement of radon and its progeny are based mostly on the detection of alpha particles and to some extent on the detection of beta and gamma emissions. This paper discusses how the instruments and methods used depend on whether the technique measures radon or radon progeny, the type of radiation being detected and the duration of the measurement of which there are three types: grab or instantaneous, integrating and continuous. Other criteria used in the design of these instruments are field measurement applicability, portability, convenience, reliability and cost. With the recent increased demand for indoor radon and radon progeny measurements, instrument development has focused on the design of inexpensive mailable devices for short-term exposures used in screening studies, as well as on more complex and sophisticated instruments for both short-term and long-term measurements used in research programs