Radiological Air Sample Quarterly Composites

IMPORTANT: Please see the attached PDF for more context on this dataset. Per Health and Safety Code 114755 which mandates that "The department shall monitor radioactive materials in the environment", air sampling stations have been placed in or near major population centers with the potential for significant radiological activity. The data presented in this table are for quarterly aggregates of sampling media per site. Dose per quarter is reported in millirem Total Effective Dose Equivalent (TEDE); all other values are radiological activity concentrations reported in units of picoCuries per cubic meter. Any positive result less than the minimum detectable activity is attributable to statistical measurement noise, and results are reported even in the case of non-detection. Beryllium-7 and Potassium-40 are naturally occurring radionuclides. The other radionuclides in the dataset are fission products. Detection of Cesium-137 is not necessarily indicative of a new release because atmospheric nuclear weapons testing distributed significant amounts across the world that are still measurable.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Contact Email [email protected]
Program Radiologic Health Branch
Homepage URL https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CEH/DRSEM/Pages/RHB.aspx
Temporal Coverage

start 2012Q1 and end 2017Q3

Spatial/Geographic Coverage

California

Geographic Granularity Other
Language English (EN)
Frequency Other
Source Link https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CEH/DRSEM/Pages/RHB-Environment/Monitoring.aspx
Data Collection Tool

At each sampling site, an electric pump pulls air through a borosilicate glass microfiber filter and a TEDA-impregnated 20x40 mesh carbon cartridge. The sample media are exchanged weekly and delivered to the California Department of Public Health - Drinking Water and Radiation Laboratory for analysis. Each quarter, all glass paper filters collected for the period per site are combined and quantified by a high-purity germanium photo-detector. This process is specifically sensitive to long-lived radionuclides.

License Terms of Use
Limitations Use of this data is subject to the CHHS Terms of Use and any copyright and proprietary notices incorporated in or accompanying the individual files.
Secondary Sources

N/A

Citation

Radiologic Health Branch, Department of Public Health. 2015. Radiological Air Sample Quarterly Composites from 2012Q1 to 2017Q3.csv

Last Updated September 13, 2019, 18:38 (UTC)