Blue concrete in my apartment?

[Jonatan79]

What I mainly think about is when I drill to put up lamps/shelves, etc., and dust flies around that can be from blåbetong. It would be nice to know so I can avoid having that worry in the back of my mind.

Vacuum at the same time as you drill, simple.

 

[MagHam]

What I'm primarily thinking about is when I drill to put up lamps/shelves, etc., and dust that could be from blåbetong flies around. It would be nice to know so I can avoid having that worry in the back of my mind.

Dust from blåbetong in reasonable amounts is not considered hazardous to health.

 

[BirgitS]

What I'm mainly thinking about is when I drill to put up lamps/shelves etc. and dust flies which could be from blåbetong. It would be nice to know so I don't have to have that worry in the back of my mind.

It might be appropriate to use respiratory protection to avoid inhaling concrete dust that is not from blåbetong.

 

[Dowser4711]

I have blåbetong in my house myself, the measurements show around ~250-280bq if I remember correctly. When the children were small, the limit was 400bq even though you could get a grant for measures from 200bq, so nothing was done then. I've made various changes around ventilation and heating, so I should do a new measurement before selling to see if anything else needs to be done or not.

If I get the value down to 50, I'll be impressed!

Otherwise, most old concrete houses probably have cracks here and there. Whether it's blåbetong or not.

And as mentioned, dust is never healthy to breathe in. Regardless of content.

 

[Jassådu]

I have blue concrete in my house, the measurements show around ~250-280bq if I remember correctly.
When the children were young, the limit was 400bq even though you could get a grant for action from 200bq, so nothing was done then.
I have made various changes regarding ventilation and heating, so I should do a new measurement before selling to see if anything else needs to be done or not.

If I get the value down to 50, I will be impressed!

Otherwise, most old concrete houses probably have cracks here and there.
Regardless of whether it is blue concrete or not.

And as I said, dust is never healthy to breathe in. Regardless of content.

Interesting! Is there a lot of blue concrete in your house?

By the way, I drilled in the ceiling to put up yet another lamp and saw no sign of blue concrete. It was basically just the same type of concrete I mentioned earlier. A concrete with sand-like content, and the dust was more reddish-brown in color.

But I noticed that radon levels rose to 110 bq after drilling according to the Airthings meter. So either there is blue concrete in the house or radon from the ground has seeped out of the concrete. In any case, my biggest concern, as I've said, is the discomfort of knowing that there can now be radioactive dust in the apartment. However, it seems unlikely considering that the hole I drilled in the ceiling was almost 6 cm deep. When I put up the previous lamps, I might have drilled about 4 cm deep. If there is blue concrete crushed in the floor's thermal insulation, it should be deeper within the floor.

It also seems unlikely that there would be blue concrete in the walls since I encountered bricks about 4 cm into the wall when I drilled.

So I suspect there is radon in the building materials, but that it mainly comes from ground radon that has risen through it.

 

[Jassådu]

Radon in the basement can also originate from soil radon.

I think it is likely that much of the radon comes from the apartment building's basement, especially considering how many cracks and holes there are in the walls.

Dust from blåbetong in a reasonable amount is not considered hazardous to health.

Hopefully, it gets out of the body after a while if you've inhaled it. Anyway, I got myself a P3 filter mask which I used the day before yesterday when I was drilling!

Vacuum while you drill, simple.

Then you probably need a vacuum cleaner that doesn't swirl the dust around?

 

[Jonatan79]

I think it's likely that a lot of radon comes from the apartment building's basement, especially considering how many cracks and holes there are in the walls.

Hopefully, it leaves the body after a while if you have inhaled it. Anyway, I acquired a P3 filter mask which I used the day before yesterday when I was drilling!

Then it probably requires some vacuum cleaner that doesn't circulate the dust?

If you aren't going to drill hundreds of holes, the vacuum cleaner won't spread the dust everywhere...