Radon Calling?

Now there's a quick, inexpensive way to find out if a deadly visitor is seeking refuge in your home. Is...

By now, the presence of radon gas in many U.S. homes has been widely reported. Radon, a decay product of uranium, rises from the soil and is often trapped inside buildings. Once there, the colorless, odorless gas and its radioactive decay products (often called daughters) attach to dust and can be inhaled by occupants. Centers for Disease Control scientists now estimate that indoor radon is the number two cause (after cigarette smoking) of lung cancer in the U.S. and is responsible for between 5,000 and 30,000 deaths per year. Unquestionably, radon is an extremely hazardous form of indoor air pollution.

Most of the publicity about radon has concerned one so-called hot spot in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, an area which is underlain by significant uranium deposits. But recent evidence has begun to show that high indoor radon levels are far more pervasive than first imagined. Information compiled from over 50,000 samples taken by Terradex Corporation's testing laboratory shows that only five out of 50 states have so far failed to show at least one case of a radon level above the Environmental Protection Agency's recommendation for homes built on sites contaminated with uranium-processing waste. And there have been fewer than a dozen tests done in each of those states, so more bad news may well be yet to come.

What's more, data from a study done by the Bonneville Power Administration have shown that it's not just tight, energy-efficient houses that are susceptible, as was previously supposed. Field monitoring of superinsulated homes with air-to-air heat exchangers and conventional leaky houses showed little difference in radon levels. It's now estimated that as much as 10% of the homes in the U.S. have indoor radon levels that exceed the EPA's recommendation.

TESTING

How do you find out if your home, or a house you're planning to buy, has dangerous radon concentrations? Terradex Corporation (460 Wiget Ln., Walnut Creek, CA 94958) will send you its Trak Etch monitors, which remain in your home for 30 to 90 days and are then returned to the lab for analysis. It usually takes about 90 days for a complete test, and the service costs about $80. Terradex's system involves what is essentially photosensitive material that is etched by radioactive decay particles. It has been widely used by individuals and government agencies. In fact, Terradex tested the earth-sheltered house at THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS Eco-Village, which we're pleased to say turned up clean.