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Radiological characterization of commercially available “radon spa sources”

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Abstract

Nowadays, artificial “radon spa sources” for home baths are commercially available. Although these sources could give a potential radiation exposure to the users, few studies have been reported on their radiological measurements. In the present study, five types of radon spa sources were collected and their radiological characterization was investigated. The followings were estimated for these samples: (1) radon emanation coefficients (dry and water-saturated conditions), (2) surface γ-ray dose rate, (3) surface count rates for α- and β-rays, (4) activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K, and (5) concentrations of radon and thoron generated from the sources located in an air flow system. The activity concentrations were very high (except for one sample (named “sample B”), although radon emanation coefficient was low compared with soil. This leads to high concentrations of radon/thoron generated from the sample. The maximum surface γ-ray dose rate was observed for sample A (2.7 μGy h−1). If people stay very close to the sample for a long time, the exposure might be significant.

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Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank students of Chuoh College of Medical Technology for their help in the experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Radiological Sciences, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan

    T. Ishikawa, M. Hosoda, A. Sorimachi & S. Tokonami

  2. Chuoh College of Medical Technology, 3-5-12 Tateishi, Katsushika-ku, Tokyo, 124-0012, Japan

    S. Katoh & S. Ogashiwa

Authors
  1. T. Ishikawa
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  2. M. Hosoda
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  3. A. Sorimachi
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  4. S. Tokonami
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  5. S. Katoh
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  6. S. Ogashiwa
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to T. Ishikawa.

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Ishikawa, T., Hosoda, M., Sorimachi, A. et al. Radiological characterization of commercially available “radon spa sources”. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 287, 709–713 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-010-0812-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-010-0812-1

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