With increasing public awareness regarding radon, this study has been conducted with the aim of providing more accurate information about radon to the public. We investigated the radon emissions from gypsum boards, which are known to emit relatively higher levels of radon among the building materials available on the market. Radon emissions were measured over three weeks using the closed chamber method with nuclear track detectors. For ceiling materials, the arithmetic mean of the radon emissions was 43.8 ± 42.2 Bq/m3 (geometric mean: 28.9 ± 5.6), 156.2 ± 150.5 mBq/m2/h per unit area (geometric mean, 103.1 ± 2.7) and 21.1 ± 19.9 mBq/kg/h per unit mass (geometric mean: 14.4 ± 2.6). Regarding the wall materials, the arithmetic mean of radon emissions was 24.1 ± 24.0 Bq/m3 (geometric mean: 15.6 ± 2.6), 133.3 ± 143.4 mBq/m2/h per unit area (geometric mean, 76.8 ± 3.0) and 13.0 ± 10.4 mBq/kg/h per unit mass (geometric mean, 9.5 ± 2.3). According to the results of this study, higher radon concentrations and emissions were detected in the ceiling materials than in the wall materials, but these values were lower than those previously measured in building materials.

• 전형진(한국환경정책평가연구원 국토환경정보센터) | Hyung Jin Jeon (Korea Environmental Information Center, Korea Environment Institute)
• 강대용(연세대학교 원주의과대학 유전체 코호트 연구소) | Dae Ryong Kang (Institute of Genomic Cohort, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Wonju)
• 문정숙(세계맑은공기연맹) | Jeong Suk Moon (Global Alliance for Clean Air)
• 박태현(서경대학교 화학생명공학과) | Tae Hyun Park (Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Seokyeong University)
• 박시현(서경대학교 화학생명공학과) | Si Hyun Park (Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Seokyeong University)
• 이철민(서경대학교 화학생명공학과) | Cheol Min Lee (Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Seokyeong University) Corresponding author