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Ask Dr. Sue
RADON
Dear Dr. Sue,
Recently I’ve seen a couple of articles in magazines
about testing your home for radon. I’ve already
installed a carbon monoxide monitor, and I’m the only
person I know who has one. Is this something I really
need, or just scare tactics to sell a product? I
have three small children, or I probably would just
ignore the whole thing.
Dear Parent,
Please don’t ignore it! Radon really is something
that you should test for, and should do something about
if your home shows high levels. It isn’t a rare
problem, either; approximately one out of every 15 homes
in the U.S. is expected to show high levels. In
2006 the Environmental Protection Agency designated
January as the first annual National Radon Action Month
to try to educate the public about this very real
danger.
Why do we care? Because it is estimated that radon
exposure is the second leading cause of lung cancer,
right behind cigarette smoking. (Second-hand smoke
comes in third.) It is believed that about
16,000-20,000 deaths yearly are directly attributable to
radon exposure, mostly through the development of lung
cancer. (1) Your children may be at greater risk
than you are, because children breathe faster than
adults, thus possibly depositing more radon on their
lungs over the same time period.
What is radon? Radon is a gas that can’t be
smelled, tasted or seen. It is present naturally
in soils, rocks, underground water and air. It is
produced by the natural breakdown of the radioactive
radium-236 in soil and rocks, and it breaks down further
to decay products that are also radioactive. These
particles can then be inhaled.
Radon gets into your home through any space that is in
contact with ground sources of radon, whether soil, rock
or water. Cracks in foundations or in basements,
floor-wall joints, mortar joints, and loose-fitting pipe
penetrations can all allow radon to enter your home.
Once inside, radon levels can become concentrated
because of limited ventilation.
Levels of radon gas outdoors are quite low,
approximately 0.4 picoCuries per Liter. If the
level inside your house was that low, you would have
very little to worry about. Unfortunately, many
homes have levels significantly higher than that.
For that reason, the Surgeon General’s office of the
U.S. Public Health Service and the Environmental Control
Agency have both stated that radon is among the most
serious environmental hazards we face.
Should you buy that radon test kit? Absolutely.
There is just no way to know the radon level in your
home without testing. Even if all of your
neighbors tested and found low levels, your home’s level
could still be dangerously high. I would recommend
buying one of the long term kits, which more accurately
represent your home’s average radon level. These
kits remain in your home for more than three months, and
then are sent to a lab for testing. Short term
kits are available which will give you a quicker answer,
but high results on one of these should be confirmed by
at least a repeat short term test or by a long term test
before you take action.
The actions needed to solve the problem would vary
depending on your situation, but might include
depressurization to vent the air from under the house,
as well as fixing the structural problems that allowed
radon to enter in high amounts. The eventual goal
will be for homes to have no greater radon levels than
the outdoor environment. At the present time we do
not have the technology to achieve that, however.
It is possible, though, to reduce radon levels to below
2 picoCuries per liter (and sometimes to below 1.3),
levels at which the risk of lung cancer is felt to be
relatively low.
Here, from the EPA, is a summary of the steps you should
take: (2) (They are assuming that you are running
a short-term test first).
1. If the short-term test result is 4pCi/L or higher,
conduct a follow-up test to confirm the results.
2. Follow-up with either a long-term test or a second
short-term test.
For a better understanding of the home’s year-round
average radon level, take a long-term test. If
results are needed quickly, take a second short-term
test.
The higher the initial short-term result, the more
certain the homeowner can be to conduct a short-term
rather than a long-term follow-up test. If the
first short-term test result is several times the action
level-for example, about 10 pCi/L or higher-a second
short-term test should be taken immediately.
3. If the long-term follow-up test result is 4 pCi/L or
more, fix the home.
If the homeowner followed up with a second short-term
test: the higher the short-term results, the more
certain the homeowner can be that the home should be
fixed. The homeowner should consider fixing the home if
the average of the first and second test is 4 pCi/L or
higher.
Test kits can be obtained from local department stores
or can be ordered online (often with free shipping).
Look for kits that are EPA approved. They may vary
in price from about $10 for a short term kit to $25 to
$30 for a long term kit (see
www.radon.com for an
Alpha Track Test kit—long term test—for $24.95 with free
shipping).
References
1. www.epa.gov/iaq
2. “Radon-A Physician’s Guide: The Health Threat With a
Simple Solution,”
www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/physic.html.
For more information you can contact EPA’s Indoor Air
Quality Information Clearinghouse at 1-800-438-4318 and
ask for publications about radon. The website
listed as number one above also has maps showing the
typical radon levels in your area (remember, you can’t
assume yours is the same). The same site includes
state-by-state contact information and worthwhile links.
 
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