Radiological data on building stones from a Spanish region: Castilla y León
As construction and building material, natural stone has a great potential to promote the commercial activities of certain European regions. Such is the case of Castilla y León in Spain, where many different rocks, ranging from sedimentary to metamorphic and igneous, are commercialized for building...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2013-12-01
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| Series: | Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences |
| Online Access: | http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/13/3493/2013/nhess-13-3493-2013.pdf |
| Summary: | As construction and building material, natural stone has a great potential to
promote the commercial activities of certain European regions. Such is the
case of Castilla y León in Spain, where many different rocks, ranging
from sedimentary to metamorphic and igneous, are commercialized for building
purposes. However, to be able to compete in a market subject to an economic
crisis, highly exacerbated in the construction sector, and to compete with
the lower prices offered by emerging countries, the issue would be to make
the Spanish offer more attractive. Here we propose a complete
characterization of rocks regarding their radiological properties, which are
related to their mineralogy and geochemistry. Rocks emit natural
radioactivity, and the presence of Rn and its decay products in dwellings has
become an important issue in North America and Europe owing to its
relationship with the carcinogenic effects of this gas. Although most of the studied rocks comply with the <i>I</i>
parameter proposed in the European Norm 112 for Radiological Protection (accepted value <i>I</i> ≤ 1; average for sedimentary rock: <i>I</i> = 0.22, SD 0.14; average for
metamorphic rocks: <i>I</i> = 0.70, SD 0.48; average for igneous rock: <i>I</i> = 0.86, SD
0.22), the inclusion of a proper radiological characterization in the list of
characteristics would guarantee quality and safety in their use in comparison
with products lacking this information. Some natural stones have been
demonized for the potential exhalation of natural radioactivity, and the
different parameters used should be addressed in a more systematic way. |
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| ISSN: | 1561-8633 1684-9981 |