Re: LSC for Radon in Air

[Schoenhofer <schoenho@via.at>]

At 12:16 1996-07-26 -0500, you wrote:
>Does anyone know where I can get the materials for LSC of radon in air.  I
>have a procedure and would like to know where I can buy the vials,
>minicanister, and silicone desicate for a reasonable price.  I already have
>the charcoal.  
>
>Thanks in advance!
>
>Karla Viegut
=========================================================================

Dear Karla,

Niton - mentioned in a reply - produces radon vials, which are available
commercially. They are ready to use, containing a small cartridge in a
standard LSC vial, filled with activated charcoal and silica gel desiccant.
Packard sells them under the name of "PicoRad" and I do not know whether you
may purchase them directly from Niton - unfortunately we cannot do this in
Austria, so I cannot give you a reliable information on costs. You can make
your own radon detector of course, but there is a risk that your charcoal is
not suitable and the calibrations have to be done frequently. Do you have
access to a radon chamber?

We use these vials since several years and are currently employing them in
the course of the first large scale radon survey in Austria. We are
extremely content with them, they are reliable and the results produced are
in well agreement with other methods like electret and track etch. We have
published a few papers. One compares the different methods - charcoal-LSC,
electret and track etch. When using charcoal-LSC you should be aware of the
limitations of the method because of the relatively short exposure of about
3 to 4 days. In case you are interested in the topic I can send you copies
of our papers. 

Franz Schoenhofer
Federal Institute for Food Control and Research
Vienna, AUSTRIA
Schoenhofer
Habichergasse 31/7
A-1160 WIEN
AUSTRIA/EUROPE
Tel./Fax:	+43-1-4955308
Tel.:		+43-664-3380333
e-mail:		schoenho@via.at