ABSTRACT

The radon exhalation rates of the surface of 10 different brands of glazed tiles made in China are measured and assessed. The experimental results reveal that the values of radon exhalation rate from the surface of glazed tiles are in the range of 0.36–2.52 Bq·m² h⁻¹, with a mean of 1.48 Bq·m² h⁻¹. These measurements obtained in this study are much lower than the typical radon exhalation rate international reference value of soil, and are also within the range of the reported literatures. Meanwhile, these data are taken as input parameters of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for simulation comparative study. The different plane distribution of radon from the use of different brands of glazed tiles in the model residential room is simulated. The simulation results show that the distribution of radon concentration in different XY plane is un-even, and the values of radon concentrations in XY plane is decreasing with the increase of z height. Deducting the contribution of the worldwide typical outdoor radon concentration, the maximum mean radon concentration at z = 0.5 m height was found to be 6.03 Bq·m⁻³ in Brand ‘B.H’ which accounts for 13.40% of the worldwide geometric mean indoor radon concentration. Combined with the measurement and simulation results, it can be known that the use of glazed tiles is not the main source of indoor radon, but glazed tile with lower radon exhalation rate is still needed for health purpose.