Pilot Study of the Application of Plastic Scintillation Microspheres to Rn-222 Detection and Measurement

This work demonstrates that when plastic scintillation microspheres (PSms) synthesized from polystyrene are exposed to
²²²
Rn in air or water, they concentrate
²²²
Rn in their volume. A theoretical model, based on the solution of the diffusion equation is developed, in order to describe the
²²²
Rn sorption and desorption processes in PSms. A macroscopic quantity termed “sampling efficiency” is used to quantify the absorption properties of the PSms. The sampling efficiency is estimated by exposure of PSms to
²²²
Rn in air and water. Estimates of the counting efficiency for measurement of the exposed PSms by commercial scintillation counters are presented. The results show that polystyrene PSms are simultaneously good samplers and detectors of
²²²
Rn. These properties indicate that sensitive approaches for the measurement of
²²²
Rn based on absorption and scintillation counting of PSms can be developed.