State Office for Nuclear Safety licence No.: 160245
Accredited by ČIA under the No. 1130.2 according to EN ISO/IEC 17025 standard
Services
- Measurement and assessment of natural radionuclides content in building materials; determination of activity concentration index
- Measurement and assessment of natural radionuclides content in radioactive material
- Assessment of radon index of building site
- Measurement of radon concentration in buildings, schools and social service facilities
- Measurement of radon concentration in workplaces
Purpose of the measurement
Radioactivity is a natural property of many elements, which are called radionuclides. Radionuclides produce an ionizing radiation when they spountaneously decay. The ionizing radiation causes damage of living tissue and it presents a health hazard. The major natural terrestrial radionuclides are potassium, uranium and thorium. The indoor radon causes the most significant exposure in buildings.
Radon is radioactive gas and chemical inert withouth odour, colour or taste. It is produced from radium in the decay chain of uranium and thorium, elements found in varying amounts in all rocks and soils all over the world. Every building material contains some radionuclides.
Radon gas escapes easily from the ground into the air, where is decayed to short-lived products called radon daughters or progeny. Radon daughters are radioactive metals, they can atache to aerosols, dust and other particles in the air we breathe. A small part of inhaled radon and its progeny may be transferred from the lungs to the blood and finally to other organs. Lungs are exposured by the ionizing heavy alpha particles. The alpha particles can damage the DNA and potentially couse lung cancer.
The sources of radon in buildings can be air, water, building materials and the most significant source – ground. That is why our laboratory measures concentration of nature radionuclides in ground, indoor air and building materials.
Contact
Mgr. Aleš Plichta, Technical Head of Radionuclide Laboratory
Lukáš Homola, DiS.
e-mail: radionuklidy@vush.cz
phone: +420 543 529 321
mobile: +420 723 964 260
fax: +420 543 216 029
Receiving of materials in laboratory: working days 7 am – 14 pm, other time only with previous agreement
Other related keywords
| natural radioactivity, radon measurement, radon in buildings, radon in the ground, specific activity, index of specific activity, electrets |
