Radon
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There is a phantom killer lurking in our homes, office buildings, and schools. We cannot see it, taste it, or smell it. In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it is estimated to cause between 15,000 and 22,000 lung cancer deaths per year making it the second leading cause of lung cancer deaths following cigarette smoking (EPA). This phantom is the radioactive gas called Radon.
Interestingly radon is a form of radiation that is a natural part of our environment. Radiation has always been in the Earth’s atmosphere and without it life could not exist. However, too much radiation is lethal (Cole 7). Radiation can be a useful tool under controlled conditions such as in x-rays and cancer therapy. In some parts of Europe areas with high radon levels are thought to cure such maladies as arthritis, headaches, sores, tumors, and influenza (none of these claims has ever been proven scientifically) (Brookins I).
Radon gas is a decay product of Radium which is part of the decay chain that begins with uranium-238. Uranium can be found everywhere on the Earth (Cole 8). Therefore, radon can be found almost anywhere. So, why should we be concerned with a naturally occurring gas in our environment?
Radon was a little known health hazard until 1984 when a nuclear plant worker in Pennsylvania consistently caused the plant’s radiation detectors to sound an alarm when he walked into work. The plant was not in operation and since the worker set off the
alarms when entering, it was clear that he hadn’t been exposed at work. Plant officials took measurements at his home and discovered that the radiation levels were 200,000 times above the acceptable level for homes near a nuclear plant. The family had been exposed to radiation levels’ equaling 455,000 chests x-rays per year (Giles 6). Obviously the radon exposure in this home was extremely high. However, the potential for radon to be high indoors is what makes it a deadly gas.
For a house to have a radon problem three factors must be present: a source of radon must be nearby, there must be pathways for it to enter, and there must be ways for it to enter the living areas of the home (Giles 22). Radon can be a problem in all types of homes. The gas can enter through dirt floors, cracks in concrete floors and walls, sumps, floor drains, joints, and tiny cracks or pores in hollow-brick walls. Air pressure aides in the problem by creating a slight vacuum between the house and the soil which can draw radon gas out of the soil and into the home (Kansas Radon Program Engineering Extension, Kansas State University).
current estimates are that approximately one in four homes in Kansas contains elevated levels of radon gas (Kansas Radon Program Engineering Extension, Kansas State University). Radon hot spots can be found anywhere so it is impossible to tell whether or not a home has a radon problem without conducting a test. If your neighbors’ home test normal your home test still may show high levels of radon. In 1988 the EPA and the U.S. Surgeon General’s office sent out the recommendation that everyone living in a mobile home, detached house, town house, or on the first three floors of an apartment building should test for Radon (Miller 291).
Radon gas is measured in piccocuries per liter of air. A curie is the amount of radioactivity emitted by the decay of a gram of radium. A piccocurie is on trillionth of a curie. The EPA recommends that an indoor radon level should be no more than four piccocuries of radon gas per liter of air to be considered safe (Cole 2). The measurement of radon gas in my home was 3.6pCi/L.
The two most popular detectors available to anyone are the charcoal canister and the alpha track detector. The charcoal canister is used to measure radon levels over two to seven days. The Alpha Track detector is used to measure levels over a period of three to twelve months (Kansas Radon Program Engineering Extension: Kansas State University). Radon detectors are easy to find and can be purchased in hardware stores and other retail outlets (EPA). For the test in my home, I purchased a charcoal envelope test from the Sedgwick County Extension office for six dollars.
The first step in setting up a charcoal test is to find an area in the lowest level of your home that is not exposed to a lot of traffic or drafts. Secondly, you must open the container according to the directions and place it two to three feet form the ground. Ideally, you can sit the canister on a stool or hang it. I hung my test from a tack I pushed into the wall. Last, I waited the allotted amount of time and sent the kit in for testing.