A RAPID SPECTROSCOPIC TECHNIQUE FOR DETERMINING THE POTENTIAL ALPHA ENERGY CONCENTRATION OF RADON DECAY PRODUCTS

We consider the application of alpha spectroscopy to the rapid determination of the potential alpha energy concentration (PAEC) of radon decay products indoors. Two count totals are obtained after a single counting period. The PAEC is then estimated by a linear combination of the count totals, the two coefficients being determined by analysis of the dependence of the statistical and procedural errors on the equilibrium conditions and the sampling, delay, and counting times. For a total measurement time of 11 min, the procedural error is unlikely to exceed 20% for equilibrium conditions commonly found indoors; the statistical error is less than 20% at a PAEC of 0.005 WL, assuming a product of detector efficiency and flow rate of at least 1.0 l/min. An analysis is made of techniques based on a total alpha count, and the results are compared with those obtained with the rapid spectroscopic technique; the latter is clearly preferable when the measurement time does not exceed 15 min

Evaluation of indoor aerosol control devices and their effects on radon progeny concentrations

Eleven portable air cleaning devices have been evaluated for control of indoor concentrations of respirable particles, and their concomitant effects on radon progeny concentrations have been investigated. Of the devices we examined the electrostatic precipitators and extended surface filters had significant particle removal rates, while the particle removal rates for several small panel-filters, an ion-generator, and a pair of mixing fans were found to be negligible. The evaluation of radon progeny control produced similar results; the air cleaners which were effective in removing particles were also effective in reducing radon progeny concentrations. Furthermore, at the low particle concentrations, plateout of the unattached radon progeny was found to be a significant removal mechanism. The overall removal rates due to deposition of attached and unattached progeny have been estimated from these data, and the equilibrium factors for total and unattached progeny concentrations have been calculated as a function of particle concentration. 7 references, 2 figures

A Portable Wireless Particulate Sensor System for Continuous Real-Time Environmental Monitoring

Airborne particulate matter has been shown to be associated with morbidity and mortality, and may interfere with certain sensitive experiment. Understanding the levels and movements of particulate matter in an enclosed space can lead to a reduction in the impact of this material on health and experimental results. A system of environmental sensors including particulate matter, selected gasses, humidity, temperature, and pressure can be used to assist in tracking air movement, providing real-time mapping of potential contaminants as they move through a space. In this paper we present a system that is capable of sensing these environmental factors, collecting data from multiple dispersed nodes and presenting the aggregated information in real-time. The highly modular system is based on a flexible and scalable framework developed for use in aircraft cabin environments. Use of this framework enables the deployment of a custom suite of sensors with minimal development effort. Individual nodes communicate using a self-organizing mesh network and can be powered from a variety of sources, bringing a high level of flexibility in the arrangement and distribution of the sensor array. Sensor data is transmitted to a coordinator node, which then passes the time-correlated information to a server-hosted database through a choice of wired or wireless networks. Presentation software is used to either monitor the real-time data stream, or to extract records of interest from the database. A reference implementation has been created for the National Institutes of Health consisting of a custom optical particle counter and off-the-shelf sensors for CO2, CO, temperature, humidity, pressure, and acoustic noise. The total environmental sensing system provides continuous, real-time data in a readable format that can be used to analyze ambient air for events of interest