The measurement accuracy of passive radon instruments

This paper analyses the data having been gathered from interlaboratory comparisons of passive radon instruments over 10 y with respect to the measurement accuracy. The measurement accuracy is discussed in terms of the systematic and the random measurement error. The analysis shows that the systematic measurement error of the most instruments issued by professional laboratory services can be within a range of ±10 % from the true value. A single radon measurement has an additional random measurement error, which is in the range of up to ±15 % for high exposures to radon (>2000 kBq h m(-3)). The random measurement error increases for lower exposures. The analysis especially applies to instruments with solid-state nuclear track detectors and results in proposing criteria for testing the measurement accuracy. Instruments with electrets and charcoal have also been considered, but the low stock of data enables only a qualitative discussion.