Traceability of CDs/DVDs used as retrospective 222Rn detectors to reference STAR laboratory

DVDs need a proper metrological assurance. The specific feature of this method, as compared to other methods for retrospective Rn-222 measurements is the possibility for an individual a posteriori calibration of the used CD/DVD-detectors. This paper describes a procedure to ensure the traceability of this method to a reference STAR laboratory. A set of 7 groups of CDs/DVDs were exposed to 4 reference Rn-222 exposure levels. After that they were treated in the etching laboratory as "real" detectors and the Rn-222 concentrations were determined by applying an individual a posteriori calibration, correction for high track density and correction for depth at which the alpha tracks were etched. The results from all 7 groups of exposed detectors demonstrated relative variation from the reference values in the interval 3.4-23.4%. The results provide evidence that the routine measurements by the CD/DVD method warrant measurements with a relative uncertainty better than 25% and therefore this method is acceptable for large-scale applications. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.