RADON - FIND AND FIX IT
by Janelle Klein MSN, ARNP
Radon gas is something that must be considered when trying to achieve a non-toxic environment in your home and work place. Radon gas is a naturally occurring radioactive gas which is a breakdown product of uranium. Radon gas has a half life that ranges from 15 to 3.6 days depending on where it is in the cycle of decay. When radon decomposes it has eight more daughters (break down products) until it eventually transmutes into lead which is stable (doesn't break down further). Radon is a gas but all other daughters are solids that rapidly fall to the floor.
When radon gas filters up from the earth, it follows the path of least resistance. A warm home knifing through the frozen earth can turn into a collection container for radon gas. The best ways to prevent exposure to radon and its radioactive daughter products are to make sure homes are built in a manner to prevent radon gas from entering and/or vent radon gas that does enter, to the outdoors.
According to information provided by the EPA, radon gas is responsible for 56% of the radioactivity to which the US population is exposed. Medical tests (X-rays and nuclear medicine) account for an additional 15% of the US population's radiation exposure.
While smoking is the #1 cause of lung cancer, radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. Radon causes 15,000 to 22,000 lung cancer deaths each year.
The EPA has set the action level for mitigation of radon at 4.0 pCi/L. At that level, it is estimated that one in 35 people exposed to radon for a significant time will die of lung cancer. Obviously, that doesn't include those who get, battle and survive lung cancer. Nor does it address the other health problems an increase in radiation exposure may worsen. Of note, the ambient outside level of radon is about 0.4 pCi/L.
Air Check, Inc. gives the following statistics on their website, http://wa-radon.info/WA_counties.html:
The average national indoor radon level is 1.3 pCi/L
The average indoor radon levels of Ferry County is 5.8 pCi/L
The average indoor radon levels of Stevens County is 8.5 pCi/L
After reading these statistics you can know that if you have a radon problem in your home, you don't need to feel like you are alone.
The EPA doesn't dictate what levels your home must be, but your health is reason enough to look into it. Also, radon levels are beginning to factor more commonly into real estate transactions. For example, the person buying or the bank financing a house sale may have a clause requiring radon levels be below 4.0 pCi/L at time of sale. Personally, I aim to keep my home levels less than 1.0 pCi/L at any given time.
So, how does a person know if they have radon in their home? It is impossible to know without testing because radon is a colorless, odorless gas. A radon meter I recommend is the Safety Siren Pro. At $130, it is a bit more expensive than the single use canisters, but is readily available on Amazon.com and pays for its self in that it can be used continuously for years to come. If you want to use the meter for a short time, the Ferry county WSU extension has these same meters for short term use as well.
A few non-specific clues may be seen such as my experience of going home to visit my parents in the Mid-west where the radon levels are also high. My father is an engineer who makes sure he has a perfectly climate controlled, tight sealed, efficient home. But, every time I visited I would get a nasty chest cold. I thought it was just some strange let down response from being "home" and away from the typical stress of work. Plus, it was so nice when my mom would make me that brothy potato soup we always got when we were sick, growing up. However, after repeating this pattern several years in a row, on a whim, I tossed our radon meter into my suitcase. The day we arrived I plugged in the radon meter, in the second story guest room, where my husband and I slept. To our dismay over the next day we watched the monitor climb to above 5 pCi/L and keep going. The basement was much worse!
While I can't be sure it was the radon that was making me sick, some sort of fume or condition that accompanied the Radon into the home was affecting me. For the rest of our visit we slept with the windows wide open. My dad's hard earned heat efficiency went out the window, so to speak, but I was healthy when we returned home. My father immediately set to work and successfully navigated reducing the radon levels in their their home.
So how does one reduce radon levels? Many hire contractors who have a good understanding of how it is done or you can learn some of the principles of radon mitigation and try it yourself. But if it doesn't work after a few hundred dollars of investment, don't keep throwing your money out the window, call in a professional. One website that can be helpful is http://www.radon.com/radon/radon_EPA.html
Best wishes to your health!