Procedures for the determination of 222Rn exhalation and effective 226Ra activity in soil samples

Two methods for measuring 222Rn exhalation and effective 226Ra in soil samples were studied. In the first determination, the method employed was based on the adsorption of radon onto activated charcoal and subsequent measurement of the activity of its daughters with an HPGe (high-purity germanium) detector. In the second, vials containing an aqueous suspension of the sample, mixed with an insoluble high efficiency mineral oil scintillation cocktail, were measured using a low-level liquid scintillation counter. Studies of optimum sampling time, efficiency in both procedures, variation of 226Ra efficiency with quenching, as well as the effect of sample amount and granulometry upon the quenching parameter, were carried out. The two methods were applied to the determination of 222Rn exhalation and effective 226Ra in environmental samples.