TY - JOUR A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Jann, Oliver A1 - Kemski, J. A1 - Schneider, Uwe A1 - Krocker, Christian A1 - Hoffmann, B. T1 - Determination of radon exhalation from construction materials using VOC emission test chambers N2 - The inhalation of 222Rn (radon) decay products is one of the most important reasons for lung cancer after smoking. Stony building materials are an important source of indoor radon. This article describes the determination of the exhalation rate of stony construction materials by the use of commercially available measuring devices in combination with VOC emission test chambers. Five materials – two types of clay brick, clinker brick, light-weight concrete brick, and honeycomb brick – generally used for wall constructions were used for the experiments. Their contribution to real room concentrations was estimated by applying room model parameters given in ISO 16000-9, RP 112, and AgBB. This knowledge can be relevant, if for instance indoor radon concentration is limited by law. The test set-up used here is well suited for application in test laboratories dealing with VOC emission testing. KW - Radon exhalation KW - Radon measurement KW - Building material KW - Emission test chamber KW - Indoor air quality KW - Real room radon concentrations PY - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12031 SN - 0905-6947 SN - 1600-0668 VL - 23 IS - 5 SP - 397 EP - 405 PB - Danish Techn. Pr. CY - Copenhagen AN - OPUS4-29408 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Jann, Oliver A1 - Kemski, J. A1 - Klingel, R. A1 - Schneider, Uwe A1 - Krocker, Christian T1 - Investigations on radon exhalation of different building materials N2 - The inhalation of 222Rn (radon) is one of the most important reasons for lung cancer, after smoking. Usually, the geological subsoil and the building ground are the dominant sources for enhanced indoor radon levels. Additionally, building materials can increase indoor radon concentrations when these materials contain higher contents of 226Ra (radium), especially in combination with low air exchange rates. For a realistic estimation of indoor radon concentrations, it is helpful to carry out measurements of radon exhalation rates from relevant materials using emission test chambers. In Germany, it is aspired to limit the total indoor radon concentration to 100 Bq/m3, whereby building materials should contribute at most 20 Bq/m3. Within a project financed by the German Institute for Construction Technology (DIBt), a practical oriented measurement procedure of the radon exhalation of building materials in accordance to ISO 16000-9 was developed to have a means for the assessment of these materials with respect to their indoor use. Test chambers with different volumes were used. The tested materials were mainly used for wall constructions (e.g., bricks, light-weight concrete) and have known specific radium activities and radon exhalation rates. T2 - Indoor Air 2011, 12th International conference on indoor air quality and climate CY - Austin, TX, USA DA - 05.06.2011 KW - Radon exhalation KW - Building material KW - Emission test chamber KW - Indoor air PY - 2011 IS - Paper 768 SP - 1 EP - 2 AN - OPUS4-24155 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hofmann, Michael A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Jann, Oliver T1 - Determination of radon exhalation from building materials in dynamically operated test chambers by use of commercially available measuring devices N2 - The inhalation of radon (222Rn) decay products is the leading cause of lung cancer apart from tobacco smoking. Besides the permeation of radon from the subsoil through the basement as main source of radon in indoor air, also building materials have to be taken into consideration, especially at low air change rates in buildings. The Construction Products Regulation (EC, 2010) gives essential requirements for construction works regarding the release of dangerous substances such as toxic gases and radiation to which radon can be assigned. The recently adopted Basic Safety Standards Directive (EC, 2013), which has to be ratified by each European member state in between the next three years sets reference levels for indoor radon concentrations for the first time. In research project financed by the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety a practical, reliable and easily applicable test procedure for the determination of radon exhalation from building materials – based on ISO 16000-9 (ISO, 2006) and CEN/TS 16516 (CEN, 2013) – should be developed. In contrast to the static test procedure published by Richter et al. (2013), dynamically operated test chambers shall be foregrounded. First results of this study are presented, focused on the reliable measurement of radon background concentration and the selection of suitable radon test devices, representing the basic elements of the subsequent work. T2 - Healthy Buildings Europe 2015 CY - Eindhoven, The Netherlands DA - 18.05.2015 KW - Radon exhalation KW - Building material KW - VOC emission test chamber KW - Radon measurement PY - 2015 SN - 978-90-386-3889-8 SP - Paper 552, 1 EP - 3 AN - OPUS4-35011 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -