§ 240.3. Definitions.
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
AC—Activated charcoal—A device used to measure radon by exposing activated charcoal to air in the area to be tested and analyzed by gamma ray spectroscopy.
AT—Alpha track—A device used to measure radon by recording alpha particle tracks on a plastic chip.
Act—The Radon Certification Act (63 P.S. § § 2001—2014).
Active radon mitigation system—A radon mitigation system with an electric vent fan.
Acts—The Radon Certification Act and the Radiation Protection Act (35 P.S. § § 7110.101—7110.703).
Alteration—A change to the original mitigation system design, including fan size, number or placement of suction points, or pipe diameter.
CRM—Continuous radon monitor—An active device used to measure radon with solid state silicon surface barrier detectors, scintillation cells or ion chambers, usually on an hourly basis.
CWLM—Continuous working level monitor—An active device used to measure radon decay products, usually on an hourly basis.
Calibration—The process of determining the response of an instrument (or measurement system) to a series of known values over the range of the instrument (or measurement system).
Certification year—Each 12-month period beginning with the most recent certification date of the certified individual.
Certified individual—An individual with a Department certification to perform radon testing, mitigation or laboratory analysis in this Commonwealth.
Client—A receiver of services that are regulated under the Act or this chapter.
Control limit—A QC value set at ±3 sigma.
Diagnostic test—A test performed to determine specific radon entry points and sources, the result of which is not reported to the Department or in writing to the client.
Duplicate measurements—Two measurements made concurrently, for the same time period and in the same location, approximately 4 inches from one another.
Electret ion chamber—A radon measurement device that consists of a small plastic container with an electrostatically charged disk inside to serve as a detector.
Electret reader—A radon measurement device that consists of a voltmeter used to measure the voltage on the electrostatically charged disk of an electret ion chamber testing device at the beginning and end of a test period.
Electret voltage drift—A QC process which evaluates the voltage drift of each new batch of electrets received from the manufacturer of the electrets.
Field blank—A QC measurement made by analyzing unexposed (closed) detectors that have been maintained in a low-radon environment to assess radon exposure to the detector from a source other than the concentration in the environment to be measured.
Firm—A Department-certified entity that has at least one certified individual in responsible charge of the entity’s testing, mitigation or laboratory radon activities. A business, such as a corporation or limited liability company, may contain more than one firm.
Firm employee—A Department-listed radon testing, mitigation or laboratory employee under the responsible charge of a certified individual.
Firm owner—A person or business entity which owns and is responsible for the radon firm.
LS—Liquid scintillation—A device used to measure radon by exposing a small amount of activated charcoal contained within a small vial and placed in the area to be sampled and analyzed in a liquid scintillation counter.
Laboratory—A Department-certified individual or firm.
Laboratory analysis—The act of analyzing a radon test device and calculating a radon concentration in air or water.
Lowest livable level—The lowest level of a building that may be used as a living space without requiring any major structural changes.
MV—Measured value—The radon concentration reported by the analyst, in units of picocuries per liter or WLs.
Measurement—A radon or radon decay product test result used for the performance of quality assurance, including a spike, blank, duplicate, intercomparison or cross check.
Mitigate—To repair or alter a building or building design for the purpose in whole or in part of reducing the concentration of radon in the indoor atmosphere.
Mitigator—A Department-certified individual or a Department-listed mitigation employee of a Department-certified mitigation firm.
Multifamily building—A building with more than three attached dwellings.
Nonreported test—A test conducted for reasons other than reporting valid, written results to the client, such as a diagnostic test.
pCi/L—Picocurie per liter—2.22 disintegrations per minute of radioactive material per liter of air.
Passive radon mitigation system—A radon mitigation system without an electric vent fan.
Person—An individual, corporation, partnership, business entity, association, trust, estate, public or private institution, group, agency or political subdivision of this Commonwealth, another state or political subdivision or agency thereof, and a legal successor, representative, agency or agency of the entities in this definition.
Primary device—Continuous monitors or electret ion chambers, or both, read or analyzed, or both, by a primary tester.
Primary tester—A tester who reads or analyzes, or both, a primary device that the tester places or retrieves, or both.
QA—Quality assurance—The activities required to provide the evidences needed to establish confidence that radon test data are of the required precision and accuracy.
QC—Quality control—The process through which a person measures performance, compares performance with standards and acts on any differences.
RPD—Relative percent difference—The absolute value of the difference between two measurements divided by their average, multiplied by 100. The equation is:RPD={(|MV1-MV2|)/(MV1+MV2)/2} x 100.
RPE—Relative percent error—The measured value (pCi/L) minus the RV (pCi/L), divided by the RV, multiplied by 100. The equation is:RPE = {(MV—RV)/RV} x 100.
RV—Reference value—The known radon concentration value, in units of picocuries per liter or WL, to which a test device is exposed.
Radon—The radioactive noble gas radon-222 and the short-lived radionuclides which are products of radon-222 decay, including polonium-218, lead-214, bismuth-214 and polonium-214.
Secondary device—A radon test device that is analyzed by a Department-certified laboratory.
Secondary tester—A tester who places or retrieves, or both, a radon test device that is analyzed by a Department-certified laboratory.
Sigma level—A sample standard deviation around a mean, which is a measure of the scatter of data around a mean. The term is often described as 1, 2 or 3 sigma, corresponding to one, two or three standard deviations around the mean.
Spiked measurement or spike—A quality control measurement conducted in an approved chamber to evaluate accuracy by exposing the detector or device to a known concentration and submitted for analysis.
Test—The act of measuring for the presence of radon in a building’s air or water supply.
Tester—A Department-certified individual or a Department-listed testing employee of a Department-certified testing firm.
WL—Working level—Any combination of short-lived radon progeny (for radon-222: polonium-218, lead-214, bismuth-214 and polonium-214; and for radon-220: polonium-216, lead-212, bismuth-212 and polonium-212) in 1 liter of air that will result in the ultimate emission of 1.3 x 105 MeV of alpha particle energy.
WLM—Working level month—The cumulative exposure from breathing in an atmosphere at a concentration of 1 WL for a working month of 170 hours.
WLM/yr—Working level month per year—The cumulative exposure incurred over 1 year (2,040 hours) from breathing in an atmosphere at a concentration of 1 WL for a working month of 170 hours.
Warning level—A QC value set at ±2 sigma.
Authority The provisions of this § 240.3 amended under sections 301, 302 and 401 of the Radiation Protection Act (35 P.S. § § 7110.301, 7110.302 and 7110.401); section 1920-A of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P.S. § 510-10); and sections 8, 12 and 13 of the Radon Certification Act (63 P.S. § § 2008, 2012 and 2013).
Source The provisions of this § 240.3 amended November 14, 2008, effective January 1, 2009, 38 Pa.B. 6275; amended October 20, 2017, effective October 21, 2017, 47 Pa.B. 6482; amended October 26, 2018, effective January 24, 2019, 48 Pa.B. 6791. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (388451) to (388452).
No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.
This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Code full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.
