Radioactive Radon May Be Ohio’s #1 Environmental Problem
By Lee Stratton
Excerpt:
The cancer-causing radioactive gas — the hot topic in home hazards a decade ago — remains in most central Ohio homes at unhealthy levels, state officials say. Radon, a colorless, odorless gas, is generated by decaying uranium — a radioactive element that exists at varying concentrations in all soils. The gas seeps into homes through pores, cracks and other openings in basement walls and floors and through ground-level floor slabs. Central Ohio’s soil has more than its fair share of radon. ‘‘Radon is the leading environmental health problem we’re dealing with in the state of Ohio," said Bill Brinck, a health physicist in the Ohio Department of Health.
Sixty-seven percent of Franklin County homes have radon levels exceeding the maximum amount recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the University of Toledo has concluded in an ongoing survey.
‘‘The data that we have is that Licking County is the radon hot spot of the nation," Brinck said. The Toledo survey, which analyzed the results of 50,000 professional and amateur radon tests since 1989, found that 77 percent of the homes in Licking County have unsafe levels of radon.
The average concentration was 20.5 picocuries — more than five times the level of 4 picocuries considered safe by the EPA. More than half of the Licking County homes had levels exceeding 9.4.
The EPA says that corrective action is needed if the annual average level of radon exceeds 4 picocuries per liter of air in the commonly used areas of the house. A picocurie is a measure of radiation.
Breathing air containing elevated levels of radon is the equivalent of smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day, health officials say. The National Academy of Sciences estimates that between 15,000 and 22,000 Americans die of lung cancer caused by radon each year. However, 85 percent of those deaths are among smokers and former smokers, leaving about 3,000 nonsmoker fatalities attributed to radon.
Some independent scientists and environmental authors challenge those statistics and say radon is not the proven culprit in those lung-cancer deaths. They contend that the gas isn’t dangerous unless it is present in much greater concentrations than the limits established by the EPA.
But the academy is joined by the World Health Organization, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the surgeon general and the EPA in warning that the health risks of longterm exposure to radon are real.
… Reducing radon in existing houses by sealing openings and venting the gas is fairly simple and typically costs between $800 and $2,000, depending on the size and construction of the house. Probably about 90 percent of radiation mitigation can be done for less than $1,000," West said.
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