Phosphogypsum recycling in the building materials industry: assessment of the radon exhalation rate

Phosphogypsum can be classified as a Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) residue of the phosphate fertilizer industry. One of the main environmental concerns of its use as building material is the radon exhalation. The aim of this study is to measure the radon exhalation rate from plates and bricks manufactured with phosphogypsum from three installations of the main Brazilian producer, Vale Fertilizantes, in order to evaluate the additional health risk to dwellers. A simple and reliable accumulator method involving a PVC pipe sealed with a PVC pipe cover commercially available with CR-39 radon detector into a diffusion chamber was used for measuring radon exhalation rate from phosphogypsum made plates and bricks. The radon exhalation rate from plates varied from 0.19 ± 0.06 Bq m⁻² h⁻¹, for phosphogypsum from Bunge Fertilizers, from 1.3 ± 0.3 Bq m⁻² h⁻¹, for phosphogypsum from Ultrafertil. As for the bricks, the results ranged from 0.11 ± 0.01 Bq m⁻² h⁻¹, for phosphogypsum from Bunge Fertilizers, to 1.2 ± 0.3 Bq m⁻² h⁻¹, for phosphogypsum from Ultrafertil. The results obtained in this study for the radon exhalation rate from phosphogypsum plates and bricks are of the same order of magnitude than those from ordinary building materials. So, it can be concluded that the recycling of phosphogypsum as building material is a safe practice, since no additional health risk is expected from the radiological point of view. - Highlights: • The practice of recycling phosphogypsum as building material is a safe alternative. • Phosphogypsum building materials pose no additional radiation health risk to dwellers. • The recycling of phosphogypsum will be driven by sustainability issues. • The PVC pipe sealed was a convenient method for measuring radon exhalation rates.