Radon Adsorption in Charcoal

Andreas Maier, Jesse Jones, Sonja Sternkopf, Erik Friedrich, Claudia Fournier and Gerhard Kraft
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Andreas Maier: Biophysics Department, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany
Jesse Jones: Biophysics Department, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany
Sonja Sternkopf: Biophysics Department, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany
Erik Friedrich: Biophysics Department, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany
Claudia Fournier: Biophysics Department, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany
Gerhard Kraft: Biophysics Department, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-7

Abstract: Radon is pervasive in our environment and the second leading cause of lung cancer induction after smoking. Therefore, the measurement of radon activity concentrations in homes is important. The use of charcoal is an easy and cost-efficient method for this purpose, as radon can bind to charcoal via Van der Waals interaction. Admittedly, there are potential influencing factors during exposure that can distort the results and need to be investigated. Consequently, charcoal was exposed in a radon chamber at different parameters. Afterward, the activity of the radon decay products 214 Pb and 214 Bi was measured and extrapolated to the initial radon activity in the sample. After an exposure of 1 h, around 94% of the maximum value was attained and used as a limit for the subsequent exposure time. Charcoal was exposed at differing humidity ranging from 5 to 94%, but no influence on radon adsorption could be detected. If the samples were not sealed after exposure, radon desorbed with an effective half-life of around 31 h. There is also a strong dependence of radon uptake on the chemical structure of the recipient material, which is interesting for biological materials or diffusion barriers as this determines accumulation and transport.

Keywords: radon; charcoal; adsorption; desorption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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