title: Adsorption of 222Rn by open-faced and diffusion-barrier canisters at different conditions of temperature and humidity.
abstract: Open-faced and diffusion-barrier charcoal canisters were individually exposed to a fixed temperature, humidity, and radon concentration in a chamber for a period of 7 d. The radon progeny activity in the canister under study was measured every 3 h. A total of 15 runs were made for the open-faced canisters and nine runs for the barrier canisters with temperatures and absolute humidities ranging from 15-30 degrees C and 0-15 g m-3, respectively. In addition, several runs were made with the radon, temperature, and humidity changing during the 7 d. Results show that open-faced canisters adsorb radon up to 60% more efficiently at 15 degrees C than at 30 degrees C while the barrier canisters show little temperature dependence. The barrier canisters are much less sensitive to humidity effects than the open-faced canister. When used to measure the radon concentration in air, the open-faced canister integrates over a period of only approximately 48 h while the barrier canister integrates over a period of approximately 96 h. The short integration time and the interference of water adsorption by open-faced canisters indicate that the open-faced canisters should be used for exposure times of 48 h and no longer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA 17013-2896.
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Luetzelschwab
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hastings
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ellis
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D002606:Charcoal; D006801:Humans; D006813:Humidity; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011886:Radon / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D017687:Radon Daughters / Q000032:analysis / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D017687:Radon Daughters; D002606:Charcoal; D011886:Radon