Let the radon experts help you with the quality assurance requirements for your business

If you’re in the radon testing business, you need a partner you can trust to provide quality results and prompt, friendly service to meet your needs.

Bowser-Morner offers industry-leading expertise coupled with a radon chamber designed to mirror chambers formerly used by the EPA to meet a spectrum of performance testing, radon spiking, and monitor calibration needs. Bowser-Morner does not manufacture radon equipment nor offer radon measurement services, so you are not relying on a competitor to perform these services.

Work with some of the nation’s leading authorities on radon measurement devices.

Dr. Phil Jenkins, a Certified Health Physicist with over 30 years of experience with radon chambers and the testing and calibration of radon measurement devices, designed the radon reference laboratory at Bowser-Morner in 1991. Laboratory Manager Nathaniel Real now manages the day-to-day operations. Nate -- along with the rest of the radon team -- strive to provide the best quality in radon reference laboratory services.

Access one of the nation’s premier radon reference chambers.

The Bowser-Morner radon reference laboratory boasts two of the only walk-in radon reference chambers in the United States that are similar in capabilities to those formerly used by the US government. The radon reference laboratory is available to anyone needing radon quality assurance testing. The radon concentration, humidity, and temperature are monitored and controlled within ranges typically found in indoor environments. The chamber’s volume allows for a large number of devices to be tested simultaneously.

Radon reference laboratory services include:

  • Performance testing: The Bowser-Morner radon reference laboratory is qualified to conduct performance tests for radon testers certified by the NRPP, NRSB, and several states including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maine. Radon measurement devices are exposed in the radon chamber for an appropriate period of time and returned to the client for reading or analysis. Participants then report the results of the radon measurements to Bowser-Morner. The performance test is successful if each measurement is within 25% of the chamber reference value. Bowser-Morner reports test results to the client to be included with other documentation for the certifying body.

Schedule a Performance Test

  • Spiking of radon detectors: Users of charcoal, electret ion chamber, or alpha-track devices are required to perform spikes with 3% of the total devices used, with a minimum of three per year and a maximum of six per month. When you send devices for spiking, they are exposed in the radon chamber for an appropriate period of time under conditions typical of an indoor environment. Upon the return of the devices, the client compares those measurements with the chamber reference value to assess the Relative Percent Error (RPE). The RPE should then be tracked using control charts to demonstrate that the measurements are “in control.”

Schedule Spiking

  • Calibration of continuous radon monitors: The Bowser-Morner radon reference laboratory is authorized by Sun Nuclear Corporation, femto-TECH, Inc., Pylon Electronics, and Saphymo GmbH to perform calibrations on their radon monitors. A monitor calibration is performed by:
  1. Making internal checks and battery replacements as appropriate
  2. Measuring the background by exposing the monitor to a radon-free atmosphere of nitrogen or aged air
  3. Exposing the monitor in the radon chamber nominally to a radon concentration of 25 pCi/L, relative humidity of 50%, and temperature of 70 degrees F for a minimum of 48 hours.

Bowser-Morner provides a calibration statement and will affix a calibration sticker to the monitor.

Schedule Monitor Calibration

 

Key Personnel

Manager, Radon Reference Laboratory View Bio
VP & Director of Construction Materials & Geotechnical Laboratories View Bio