Comparison of professional and consumer grade radon monitors for indoor radon inspection

The aim of research: test new consumer grade radon monitors available in Russia to assess the possibility of their use in monitoring indoor radon activity. Materials and Methods: Three consumer grade AIKESI RM75 (China) monitors were exposed for 42 days together with professional measuring instruments AlphaGUARD PQ2000 PRO (reference monitor) and Radon Scout Professional in laboratory conditions. Results and Discussion: Statistical processing of time series of radon concentration was performed, and a comparison of measuring instruments was made. The relative error of readings from consumer grade monitors compared to the reference radon monitor does not exceed 12 % for long-term measurements and no more than 16 % for five-day measurements. The nonlinearity of the ratio of average radon concentration values based on readings from the tested and reference radon monitors for consumer grade radon monitors ranges from 3 to 7 %. A slight overestimation of readings was detected for all consumer monitors in the range of radon concentrations < 100 Bq/m³. According to the results of time series correlation analysis, consumer-grade radon monitors satisfactorily reproduce the dynamic of indoor radon activity. Conclusion: The satisfactory accuracy of radon activity measurements, operational characteristics, ease of data processing, and low cost of consumer radon monitors make them suitable for preliminary screening assessments of indoor radon activity. At the same time for research purposes and radiation dose estimations recalibration of consumer grade radon monitor using standard measuring instruments is required.

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