Measurement of radon exhalation rates from some building materials used in Serbian construction

Abstract

The rates of radon exhalation from building materials available on the Serbian market were measured using RAD7 device. Fitting the growth curves of radon activity concentration provided the information on radon exhalation rates from the samples. The results were quite low and they ranged from 1.4 to 855 mBq m−2 h−1 for surface exhalation rate and from 1.3 to 11.4 mBq kg−1 h−1 for mass exhalation rate. The effect of moisture on radon exhalation was confirmed. For powdered samples with dimensions smaller than radon diffusion length, the mass exhalation rate is independent of sample mass and its exhalation area.