Intercomparison of Indoor Radon Measurements Under Field Conditions In the Framework of MetroRADON European Project

Abstract

Interlaboratory comparisons are a basic part of the regular quality controls of laboratories to warranty the adequate performance of test and measurements. The exercise presented in this article is the comparison of indoor radon gas measurements under field conditions performed with passive detectors and active monitors carried out in the Laboratory of Natural Radiation (LNR). The aim is to provide a direct comparison between different methodologies and to identify physical reasons for possible inconsistencies, particularly related to sampling and measurement techniques. The variation of radon concentration during the comparison showed a big range of values, with levels from approximately 0.5 to 30 kBq/m3. The reference values for the two exposure periods have been derived from a weighted average of participants’ results applying an iterative algorithm. The indexes used to analyze the participants’ results were the relative percentage difference D(%), the Zeta score ( ζ ), and the z-score ( z ). Over 80% of the results for radon in air exposure are within the interval defined by the reference value and 20% and 10% for the first and the second exposure, respectively. Most deviations were detected with the overestimating of the exposure using passive detectors due to the related degassing time of detector holder materials.