Evaluation of natural radiation in houses built with black schist.

Natural radiation in houses built with black schist slabs located at an altitude of 1,000 m in the mountainous southern part of Taiwan were investigated by studying the naturally occurring radionuclides present in the black schist. Both indoor and outdoor radon concentrations were monitored. The cosmic-ray contribution to the dose received by the inhabitants was also estimated. Gamma-ray spectroscopy was performed for radionuclide analyses