Radon testing laboratory
„Constantin Cosma” - LiRaCC
#Services
- Systematic radon measurements in the indoor air, soil and water, according to Romanian legislation and international regulations
- Monitoring the concentration of radon, thoron and other chemical pollutants with an impact on human health in the indoor air
- Detailed radon investigations and complete diagnosis in buildings, for the proper design of remedial solutions
- Development, testing, certification and validation for the launch of integrated intelligent solutions for continuous monitoring and control of the radon and indoor pollutants, with remote data transmission
- Design, development and implementation of cost-effective solutions for controlling and reducing exposure to radon and other carcinogenic pollutants in residential and public buildings
- Determination of the emission rate from soil and building materials
- Radon measurements in caves and underground environments
- Development of risk maps for residential/occupational exposure to radon
- Maps of the radon in soil and water for the regions in Romania
- Radon and radium measurements in water samples
- Indoor air quality forecasts based on advanced numerical modelling assisted by experiment
- Training for the specialists and experts involved in all aspects of radon and indoor air quality, as well as in the energy efficiency of buildings, public health and protection of the indoor environment
- Organizing workshops dedicated to radon, for the economic agents activating in the field of radon
team
| Members |
CS I Dr. Alexandra Cucos (Head of Radon Laboratory) alexandra.dinu@ubbcluj.ro |
| Lecturer Tiberius Dicu |
| Associate professor Nicoleta Brişan |
CSIII Dr. Bety Burghele burghele.bety@ubbcluj.ro |
CSIII Dr. Ancuţa Ţenter ancuta.tenter@ubbcluj.ro |
| Cerc. Dr. Mircea Moldovan |
Cerc. Dr. Kinga Hening kinga.szacsvai@ubbcluj.ro |
| Cerc. Dr. Gabriel Dobrei |
| CS Dr. Dan Niță |
| Cerc. Dr. Botond Papp |
| Drd. Stefan Florica |
| Drd. Teofana Sferle |
| Drd Alexandru Lupulescu |
| Drd. Istvan Pap |
Collaborators |
| Professor Carlos Sainz, UC Spain |
| Professor Cosmin Chiorean, UT Cluj-Napoca |
| Associate professor Catalina, UT Bucharest |
| Lecturer Marius Botoş, UT Cluj-Napoca |
| Professor Dan Micu, UT Cluj-Napoca |
| Lecturer Andrei Ceclan, UT Cluj-Napoca |
| Lecturer Cristina Horju-Deac, UT Cluj-Napoca |
| Lecturer Tudor Milchiş, UT Cluj-Napoca |
| Dr. Andrei Istrate, Clima Instal Systems Bucharest |
| Lecturer Andreea Răchişan, UMF Cluj-Napoca |
| Lecturer Arthur Tunyagi, UBB |
| Professor Călin Baciu, FŞIM UBB |
| Professor Alida Gabor, FŞIM UBB |
| Lecturer Robert Begy, FŞIM UBB |
The LiRaCC laboratory is accredited in the field of radon by the CNCAN designation certificate No. LI 04_LiRaCC_UBB/2018/ supplemented with LI07_LiRaCC_UBB/2020, in accordance with the EN ISO/IEC 17025 standard and with the national/European requirements for the authorization of specific radon laboratories in Europe.
The research is conducted in accordance with applicable standards, measurement procedures, instruments and international standards in the field of indoor air quality CEN standard EN 16798-1: 2019, as well as in accordance with the international standards specific to the measurement and control of radon EU-BSS and series ISO / FDIS 11665.
Scientific research topics and directions:
- Radon exposure and the impact on public health
- Systematic radon measurements in the indoor air, soil and water, in all areas of Romania, according to CE 2013/59 Euratom Directive
- Monitoring the concentration of radon, thoron and other chemical pollutants with an impact on human health in the indoor air (active and passive methods, as well as contemporary and retrospective methods)
- Radon and radium measurements in water samples
- Measurements of soil permeability and soil radon concentration
- Determination of the emission rate from soil and building materials
- Development of risk maps for residential/occupational exposure to radon
- Radon measurements in caves and underground environments
- Studies on radon as a seismic precursor
- Determination of radon and thoron descendants using the LR 115 method
- Assessment of the annual effective dose and quantification of the exposure risk of the population
- Development of innovative solutions for continuous monitoring of radon and indoor pollutants, with remote data transmission
- Development of energy efficient solutions in order to mitigate the concentrations of radon and other pollutants inside the houses and to improve the quality of the indoor air and public health
- Studies on radon as a seismic precursor
Outstanding achievements within LiRaCC
(1) Development of the Radon Map for 28 counties (approx. 44% of the territory), mainly located in the Central, West and North-West regions of Romania – Mapping the concentration of radon in the indoor air of buildings in Romania and integration in the European Radon Atlas made by JRC European Commission – the map will use the CNCAN for the implementation of the national radon action program, the establishment of radon high risk areas and prioritization.
(2) Development of innovative integrated technological solutions for continuous monitoring, control and remediation of radon and major air pollutants inside buildings
- development for the first time in Europe, testing, validation and certification of an innovative prototype intelligent indoor air quality monitoring system (Radon, CO2, CO, VOC, temperature, pressure, humidity) with remote data transmission, within the SMART_RAD_EN project;
- development and application for the first time in Romania, of innovative integrated solutions for radon and indoor air quality remediation in 31 residential buildings exposed to high concentrations of radon and chemical indoor air pollutants in Bihor County and the municipalities of Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest and Timisoara – within the SMART_RAD_EN and IRART research projects.
(3) Elaboration for the metropolitan areas of Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iaşi, Timişoara and Sibiu of high resolution interactive maps based on radon results, in correlation with the quality parameters of the indoor environment and the energy efficiency index for 1000 houses investigated within SMART_RAD_EN project.
Equipment
- RADOSYS-2000 automatic installations (Elektronika, Budapest, Hungary, model 2001 and model 2010) for the development and reading of CR-39 trace detectors, consisting of – 1 development unit with accessories, 1 laptop and 1 optical microscope
- ALPHAGUARD PQ 2000 radon detector (Genitron Instruments GmbH, Germany, 2010) – allows simultaneous monitoring of radon temperature, pressure, humidity and radon descendants
- Radon and thoron RAD7 detector (DURRIDGE Company, USA, 2010)
- RADIM electronic devices (JiríPlch-SMM Company, Prague, Czech Republic, 2003-2012) for measuring radon and radon exhalation
- LuK 3A-C instruments (JiríPlch-SMM Company, Prague, Czech Republic, 1996-2012) and related devices for assessing the radon measurements in soil and water, and radon emission rate from soil and building materials
- RADON JOK equipment for in situ measurement of radon permeability (Radon VOS, Prague, Czech Republic, 2011)
- SARAD tools (Sarad GmbH, Dresden, Germany, 2010) for radon detection
- RAMON integrated electronic measuring devices (Ramon 2.2, Norway, 2005 and 2010)
- Personal Doseman Pro dosimeter (Sarad, 2002) for measuring the radon descendants
- Dosimeter for air dose flow determination (Geiger Gamma-Scout Detector, 2012)
- Sample preparation laboratory
- High resolution gamma spectrometer with hyper-pure germanium detectors, ORTEC GMX HpGe FWHM 1.92 keV to 1.33MeV detector with Be 0.5 mm window, that allows the recording and determination of low energies
Representative projects (selection):
- POC 2014 – 2020 – Smart Systems for Public Safety through Control and Mitigation of Residential Radon linked with Energy Efficiency Optimization of Buildings in Romanian Major Urban Agglomerations – SMART-RAD-EN, code MySMIS 103427, contract no. 22 / 01.09.2016, financed by the Operational Program Competitiveness 2014-2020, Priority Axis POC-A1-A1.1.4-E-2015; Project Manager Alexandra Cucoș; Project Director Prof. Carlos Sainz, PhD; Project Responsible Tiberius Dicu (2016 – 2020)
- EEA-RO-NO-2018-0138 project, contract no. 4/ 2019, Monitoring and risk assessment for groundwater sources in rural communities of Romania – GROUNDWATERISK (2019-2023)
- Contract no. 271972/424/23.05.2019, between the Cluj-Napoca City Hall and Babeş-Bolyai University through the Radon Testing Laboratory “Constantin Cosma” (LiRaCC) regarding the Pollution Investigation Services – Research Studies for the Assessment of air quality inside the Cluj-Napoca City Hall Building and from pre-university education units in Cluj-Napoca (2019 – 2020)
- PNII-RU-TE – Assessment of the genotoxic effects related to chronic low-dose ionising radiation exposure in population from Băița-Ștei uranium mine area, code: PNII-RU-TE-2014-4-1009, contract no.: 266/2015; Project Director Tiberius Dicu (2015-2017)
- EEA-JRP-RO-NO-2013-1-0259 – Monitoring human impact in show caves – a pilot project on monitoring protocols and remediation techniques to be implemented in Romanian show caves (CAVEMONITOR), Project manager Constantin Cosma/ Alexandra Cucoș (2014 – 2017)
- PN-II-PT-PCCA-2011-3.2-1064 RAMARO 73/2012 – Radon map (residential, geogenic, water) for the Central, West and North-West regions of Romania, Director: Constantin Cosma/ Alexandra Cucoș (2012-2016)
- POS-CCE ID/ SMIS 586/12487 IRART, contract no. 160/15.06.2010 – Implementation of radon remediation techniques in dwellings of Baita uranium mine area, Project director Constantin Cosma, Project manager Alexandra Cucoș (2010-2013)
- SERTIR, PN II 32149/2008/Radon exposure – Experimental and Clinical Studies in some districts from Transylvania, and impact studies upon respiratory apparatus morphologies, in animals and humans, Project director Constantin Cosma (2008 – 2011)
Relevant scientific articles (selection):
- Burghele B.D., Botoș M., Beldean-Galea S., Cucoş A., Catalina T., Dicu T., Dobrei G., Florică Ș., Istrate A., Lupulescu A., Moldovan M., Niță D., Papp B., Pap I., Szacsvai K., Sainz C., Tunyagi A., Ţenter A. Comprehensive survey on radon mitigation and indoor air quality in energy efficient buildings from Romania, Science of The Total Environment, Vol. 751/ 2021, 141858. Available online 21 August 2020.
- Beldean-Galea S.M., Dicu T., Cucoş A., Burghele B.D., Catalina T., Botoş M., Ţenter A., Szacsvai K., Lupulescu A., Pap I., Dobrei G., Moldovan M., Tunyagi A., Florică Ș., Pănescu V., Sainz C. Evaluation of indoor air pollutants in 100 retrofit residential buildings from Romania during cold season. Journal of Cleaner Production. Volume 277, 20 December 2020, 124098. Available online 7 September 2020.
- Florică Ș., Burghele B.D., Bican-Brișan N., Begy R., Codrea V., Cucoș A., Catalina T., Dicu T., Dobrei G., Istrate A., Lupulescu A., Moldovan M., Niță D., Papp B., Pap I., Szacsvai K., Țenter A., Sferle T., Sainz C. The path from geology to indoor radon, Environmental Geochemistry and Health 42, 2655–2665, 2020.
- Burghele B., Ţenter A., Cucoş A., Dicu T., Moldovan M., Papp B., Szacsvai K., Neda T., Suciu L., Lupulescu A., Maloş C., Florică Ş., Baciu C., Sainz C. The FIRST large-scale mapping of radon concentration in soil gas and water in Romania. Science of The Total Environment, Volume 669, Pages 887-892, 2019.
- Tunyagi, T. Dicu, A. Cucoş, B.D. Burghele, G. Dobrei, A. Lupulescu, M. Moldovan, D. Niţă, B. Papp, I. Pap, K. Szacsvai, A. Ţenter, M.S. Beldean-Galea, M. Anton, Ş. Grecu, L. Cioloca, R. Milos, M.L. Botos, C.G. Chiorean, T. Catalina, M.A. Istrate, C. Sainz, An Innovative System for Monitoring Radon and Indoor Air Quality, Romanian Journal of Physics, Vol. 64/2019, Number 11-12, 2019, Published online, 2019.
- Dicu, B.D. Burghele, A. Cucoş, R. Mishra, Assessment of annual effective dose from exposure to natural radioactivity sources in a case-control study in Bihor County, Romania, Radiation Protection Dosimetry, pp. 1–6, ncy211, 2018.
- Cucos A., Papp B., Dicu T., Moldovan M., Burghele B.D. Moraru I.T., Țenter A., Cosma C. Residential, soil and water radon surveys in north-western part of Romania, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 166, pp. 412-416, 2017.
- Alexandra Cucoș (Dinu), Constantin Cosma, Oana A. Dumitru, Bety D. Burghele, Monica I. Călugăr, Bogdan P. Onac. Radon levels in Romanian caves: an occupational exposure survey, Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 39: 1085, 2017.
Patents/patent applications submitted at OSIM:
- Patent application submitted at OSIM, no. A/10020/2020 from 29.04.2020 for the invention entitled “INTELLIGENT SYSTEM FOR PREDICTING AND REGULATING RADON CONCENTRATION INSIDE CIVIL BUILDINGS BASED ON MACHINE LEARNING METHODS”, authors Botoş Marius Lucian, Chiorean Cosmin Gruia, Cucoş Alexandra Laura, Dicu Tiberius, Fernandez Sainz Carlos, applicant Babeş – Bolyai University.
- Patent application submitted at OSIM, with confirmation from 05.03.2020 and no. A/10008/2020 from 26.02.2020 for the invention entitled „INTEGRATED SYSTEM FOR THERMAL INSULATION AND REDUCTION OF THE CONCENTRATION OF GASES EMITTED FROM THE FOUNDATION LAND, IN PARTICULAR RADON, IN RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS”, authors Botoş Marius Lucian, Tunyagi Arthur Robert, Cucoş Alexandra Laura, Dicu Tiberius, Chiorean Cosmin Gruia, Fernandez Sainz Carlos, applicant Babeş – Bolyai University.
- Patent application submitted at OSIM, no. 5/2019 CP from 29.07.2019, published in RO-BOPI no. 3/2020 on 30.03.2020, for the invention entitled „INTELLIGENT SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINATION AND CONTROL OF RADON CONCENTRATION INSIDE CIVIL BUILDINGS”, authors Tunyagi Arthur Robert, Cucoş Alexandra Laura, Dicu Tiberius, Botoş Marius Lucian, Chiorean Cosmin Gruia, Fernandez Sainz Carlos, applicant Babeş – Bolyai University.
- OSIM utility model no. u2018 00028/15.05.2013 published in BOPI no. 2/ 2014 on 28.02.2014, for the invention entitled „Automated system for monitoring and controlling residential radon concentrations”, authors Robert Begy, Constantin Cosma, Alexandra Cucoş (Dinu), Carlos Sainz. Approved in October 2018.
National and international awards
1) SMART HEALTH AWARD 2019 at the Smart City Industry Awards Gala 2019, 4th edition, Smart Living Category for the Prototype developed within the SMART_RAD_EN project, ID P_37_229, awarded by the Romanian Association for Smart City
2) Young Profession Award 2020, awarded to the student Șerban Grecu at VII. Terrestrial Radioisotopes in Environment International Conference on Environmental Protection, Veszprem, Hungary, 2020.
3) Prof. Rada Mihalcea Excellence Award 2019 for CSIII Burghele Bety-Denissa, awarded by the City Hall of Cluj-Napoca for contributions in radon metrology, Vth National competition of Young Researchers in Science and Engineering, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2019.
4) SMART-RAD-EN – successful project selected in the top 4 representative projects within the European Funds funding session 2014-2020 during the visit of the European Commissioner for Health and the POC Monitoring Committee in January 2018.
5) Martin Neznal Award – European Radon Association, awarded to CSIII Burghele Bety-Denissa, for representative contributions in radon research, European Radon Association, Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain, 2016.
6) European Fund for Research-INNOVATION Award at the REGIO DAYS Competition 2012, organized by the Europe Direct North Transylvania Regional Center and the North-West Regional Development Agency (IRART Project)
National/international collaborators:
Dissemination and communication activities (selection):
Oral presentations at scientific events (2017-2020):
- National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN)
- Ministry of Health – National Institute of Public Health (INSP)
- Romanian Academy
- Technical University of Cluj Napoca
- The Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest
- Cantabria University, Santander, Spain (Prof. Luis Quindos, PhD and Prof. Carlos Sainz, PhD) European Radon Association ERA
- RadoSys, Budapest, Hungary (Manager Erik Hulber)
- Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Italy ISS -Italian National Institute of Health (Head Francesco Bochichio)
- Czech Technical University, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Prague, Czech Republic (Prof. Martin Jiranek, PhD)
- Radon v.o.s., Prague, Czech Republic (Eng. Matěj Neznal, PhD)
- Center, Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment CSTB France (Experrt Bernard Collignan)
- University of South Florida, School of Geosciences, USA (Prof. B.P.Onac, PhD)
- Goce Delcev University, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Stip, Macedonia (Prof. Zdenka Stojanovska)
- Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Faculty of Physics, Dosimetry and Radiation Protection, Bulgaria (Prof. Dobromir Pressyanov)
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- Organized conferences
2020 – European Radon Day. November 9, 2020. Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2019 – European Radon Day. November 7, 2019. Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2019 – International Symposium on Natural Radiation Sources – Challenges, Approaches and Opportunities, in partnership with CNCAN and the Government of Romania from 21 to 24 May 2019, Bucharest, Romania
2018 – European Radon Day. November 7. Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2017 – National Workshop on Implementation of Basic Safety Standards on Public Exposure due to Radon and Building Materials, organized by IAEA, CNCAN and UBB at Cluj Napoca, Romania, 23-27 January 2017
2012 – the first edition of the International Symposium “FIRST EAST EUROPEAN RADON SYMPOSIUM-FERAS 2012”, at Babeş-Bolyai University, between September 2-5, 2012. The event has become traditional in the international scientific community, the second edition taking place in Nis, Serbia in 2014, and the third edition in Sofia, Bulgaria, in May 2017.
2020 – Energy Performance of Buildings, November 20, 2020, organized by AAECR Association of Energy Auditors for Buildings in Romania, “Radon and indoor air quality in PEC”, Alexandra Cucoş
2020 – Anniversary National Conference of the Romanian Society for Radiological Protection – “SRRp_30”, November 20, 2020, organized by SRRP Romanian Society for Radiological Protection, “Contributions of UBB – LiRaCC research to the European Radon Atlas”, Alexandra Cucoș, Bety-Denissa Burghele Kinga Szacsvai, T. Dicu, Ancuța Țenter, M. Moldovan, Al. Lupulescu, I. Papp, Șt. Florica and G. Dobrei
2020 – European Radon Week 2020. 24-28 February 2020. BEV, Vienna, Austria
2019 – International Symposium on Natural Radiation Sources – Challenges, Aproaches and Oportunities. Bucharest, May 21-24, 2019, Romania
2019 – Third International Conference Radon in the Environment, Krakow (Poland), May 27-31, 2019
2018 – Radon Outcomes on Mitigation Solutions (ROOMS), 27-28th September 2018, Lugano-Canobbio (Switzerland)
2018 – 14th International Workshop on the Geological Aspects of radon Risk mapping, 18-20th September 2018, Prague, Czech Republic
Participation in activities that contribute to the elaboration/implementation of public policies
1) Strategic partnerships with the National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN) for the implementation in Romania of the National Radon Action Plan (PNAR) and of the Directive EC 2013/59 EURATOM establishing the basic safety standards for the protection against hazards presented by exposure to ionizing radiation, adopted in the national legislation by HG 526/25.07.2018, which stipulates the obligation to measure and remedy the concentration of radon in buildings, both residential and public-private.
– Letters of intent sent to CNCAN, Ministry of Health (MS) and Ministry of Research and Innovation (MCI)
– Development of norms and technical methodology, participation in the working meetings at the Government for the achievement of the strategic objectives provided in PNAR-GD no. 526 / 25.07.2018
2) Participation in the elaboration of the current requirements established by the international certification program Green Buildings/Homes implemented by the Green Buildings Council in Romania, which will consider the management of radon pollution starting with July 2020, thus encouraging the construction of healthier and quality homes and buildings. The new regulations promoted by the European Commission Directorate-General for Energy (DG Energy) aim to reduce the impact on the environment during the construction and operation of buildings, as well as on the health and safety of occupants (http://www.rogbc.org/en/).
3) The elaboration (at the end of the SMART_RAD_EN project) of the Guidelines and Good Practice Manual with recommendations on radon and the development of an action plan, which contributes to the elaboration/implementation of public radon policies. The documents were sent to the authorities, the population, the decision makers and all the interested actors, CNCAN, the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration, the National Institute of Public Health and to Cluj-Napoca City Hall.
4) Promoting media-supported campaigns between 2016 and 2020, through numerous appearances on the main media, press, radio and TV channels.
– promotion through the media (CaseBune.ro, youtube) of some educational materials regarding the procedures applied for measuring and remedying radon in the LiRaCC Laboratory, such as:
Why did we put radon detectors on #CavaleriaHub?
RADON – How do you get it out of the house?
#cavaleriahub negative on Radon. We have the result – CASEBUNE.RO
List of media contributions – press, radio and TV:
- Educational facilities at risk of radiation. Radon concentration exceeded 3 or 4 times
- Radon map in schools
- Open letter to the Ministry of Environment
- Fire protection and reduction of the radon concentration, radioactive gas, are not provided in the financing project launched by the Ministry of Environment
- The UBB specialists measure radon concentration in all public buildings in Romania
- UBB is the first university in Romania to monitor its radon levels
- Babeș-Bolyai University is launching a device that measures air quality
- New rules for house construction. What Romanians need to do to reduce radon