Radioactivity in building materials: a first overview of the European scenario

With a wide research into the national and international literature an inventory was created of building materials in Europe, characterised on the basis of activity concentration of the main natural radionuclides (226Ra, 232Th and 40K). Materials of natural origin and containing industrial by-products were both accounted for. The inventory allowed us to calculate the activity concentration index I - suggested by a European technical guidance document - for many building materials in Europe. A first identification of materials was thus made, which could be subject to controls or restrictions as for movement and/or use if the index were to be adopted by the European legislation.