PubMed · 720113
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R L Schapiro, T Merrill. 1978. Computed tomography: planning, programming, budgeting.. https://doi.org/10.1016/0149-936x(78)90091-7
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Levels of elevated 222Rn in homes can fail to correlate with measured radium concentrations in soils and surrounding rocks for reasons which can include water sources, building materials, and unusual variations in climate or building construction. Several homes were identified in the Phoenix, AZ metropolitan area with soil radium concentrations of < 0.074 Bq g-1 (2.0 pCi g-1) which had elevated radon concentrations unexplained by geological sources alone. Continuous monitoring of eight houses under different conditions of cooling system usage revealed a definite role of the underground air returns as active transport pathways contributing to the enhancement of the indoor concentration of 222Rn in six of the houses. The ratio of indoor 222Rn concentrations on days when the cooling system was operated continuously compared to days the system was off ranged from essentially one up to a factor exceeding 10.
Underground air returns have been found to be active transportation pathways for radon gas entry into homes. Several homes for which underground air returns were contributing to elevated indoor 222Rn concentrations were evaluated for possible mitigation. Two houses with such problems were successfully mitigated by inserting flexible ducts into the returns. In one of these houses, the initial mitigation attempt resulted in an exacerbation of the problem due to leakage of the ducting. This was solved by re-sleeving the returns using a stronger material. Mitigation of elevated indoor radon gas caused by use of underground air returns by inserting flexible ducts is not possible for all situations, especially those for which the returns are small, filled with debris, misaligned, or inaccessible.
Heterotrophic bacteria from structural surfaces, drain pan water, and the airstream of a well-maintained air-handling system with no reported building-related illness were enumerated. Visually the system appeared clean, but large populations of bacteria were found on the fin surface of the supply-side cooling coils (10(5) to 10(6) CFU cm-2), in drain pan water (10(5) to 10(7) CFU ml-1), and in the sump water of the evaporative condenser (10(5) CFU ml-1). Representative bacterial colony types recovered from heterotrophic plate count cultures on R2A medium were identified to the genus level. Budding bacteria belonging to the genus Blastobacter dominated the supply surface of the coil fins, the drain pan water, and the postcoil air. These data and independent scanning electron microscopy indicated that a resident population of predominantly Blastobacter bacteria was present as a biofilm on the supply-side cooling coil fins.