University Daily Kansan / Thursday, September 22, 1988
9
Science
Radon gas: The unnoticeable killer
Cancer-causing chemical hits homes nationwide,says EPA
By Mark E. McCormick Kansan staff writer
Stanley Watras' lungs were so saturated with saturation, he set off radiation alarms at the nuclear power plant where he worked.
The radon concentration in his Boyertown, Penn. home measured thousands of piocures a liter. The radon health risks are four piocures a liter.
"The risk of getting lung cancer in his home was equivalent to smoking hundreds of packs of cigarettes a day," said Dale Armstrong, who is an international Protection Agency. "He had lived in the house for about a year."
Watras' ordeal was the beginning of extensive radon testing in homes across the country and the discovery of a new home health hazard.
"Previously, we had seen radon poisoning mostly in uranium mines. We found that the areas so widespread in homes, there is no good predictor to tell when there is a leak."
Cracked basement floors and foundations allow radon to enter homes.
Radon is an odorless, cancer-causing gas created naturally in the earth.
Uranium breakdown in the soil creates radon gas. Because uranium is present in most soil, radon isn't confined to any particular resion.
Prolonged exposure to radon is the second leading cause of cancer.
There are about 130,000 lung cancer deaths every year in the United States, according to smoking. Armstrong said. Radon accounts for most of the balance, he added.
In outdoor air, radon often is diluted to such low concentrations that it is usually no concern. But radon can cause cancer of developing lung cancer increase.
"While that's not a lot compared to cigarettes, it's still a lot as a whole number," Armstrong said.
Vernon Hook, assistant surgeon general with the public health service, said in a New York Times article that about 15 times higher among smokers than non-smokers. Tobacco smoke, he said, makes the lungs
In outdoor air, radon often is diluted to such low concentrations that it is usually of no concern. But when trapped in homes, the threat of developing lung cancer increases. Prolonged exposure to radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer.
more susceptible to radon and also attracts radon particles.
in terms of danger to the lungs,
standard exp. we expected the standard we equiv. having 200 to 300 chest X-rays a year or smoking half of a pack of cigarettes a year.
The EPA is encouraging everyone to test.
"We have recorded elevated levels in every state we have tested in," Armstrong said.
However, Armstrong urges home owners not to panic.
"People don't have to run out to a hotel and ask for a room on the fifth floor until they can do something about the radon level in their house." About 75% of test for elevated radon levels in your home is remedial work to secure the home.
Armstrong said he had been swamped with calls, receiving more than 250 in two days last week.
"And that's not taking into account the people who called the other government offices."
Safeguards
The most common method for testing home radon levels is the chart test kit which costs $10 to $25 and includes the lab analysis. The cassiterus usually is used before other more expensive tests, but its low cost and relative accuracy.
The canister is placed in the lowest livable part of the home. The testing area should remain closed to create the highest concentrated levels possible.
"If you have low levels, you shouldn't worry too much because you've created the worst possible conditions." Armstrong said. "But if
you have high readings, you should do further testing.
"The risk is always there. The only safe level is zero."
Armstrong said the alpha track testing system could be used for long term or more accurate testing. However, if readings are above 20, a waist want to take action before the final results of the alpha track test, he said.
The alpha track test has a plastic tape. The soft tape is inserted in parts, Armstrong said. At the end of the test period, damage to the film is examined and the radon level is measured.
The test should be put in the busiest part of the home for 90 days to a year.
"After about a year of work, you should have a good picture of what the levels in your house are like," Armstrong said.
The alpha track test will pick up varying radon levels from season to season, he said.
"In the winter, houses are usually closed up tighter, and your levels tend to rise." Armstrong said.
After determining the radon level, methods should be taken to protect the home, he said.
Repairs can range from fortify concrete foundations and caulking around sump pumps or installing small fans or windows in basements.
Armstrong said he had heard of many cost-effective ways of ridding homes of radon.
He said he bead of heard of people installing a pipe outside by bending the pipe out of a window and installing a fan at the end of the pipe to siphon radiant-heavy air.
How radon can enter a house
Here are the major entry routes for radon gas into a typical home. The soil is generally believed to be the largest contributor of indoor radon in typical detached
How radon gets in:
The major cause of radon entering a building is the small difference between inside and outside air pressure.
It works the same way a fire draws air up a chimney. A heated house draws cool air from the basement or ground floor where the pressure is low and sends it to the upper floors where the pressure is higher.
Where radon comes from:
Radon is an odorless, colorless radioactive gas that is made by the natural decay of radium and uranium found in rocks and soil.
Radon breaks down into harmful elements that attach to dust particles and can enter the lungs. There the elements decay in minutes, releasing alpha radiation. This radiation can cause cell damage possibly leading to cancer.
SOURCE: Environmental Protection Agency, Arizona Republic
The Associated Press
DEAN NEITMAN/Knight-Ridder Graphics Network
Drinking water Wells susceptible to contamination
WASHINGTON — Radon gas evaporating out of drinking water could be as serious a contaminant as anything we're dealing with, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency said yesterday.
Water-source radon every year. Water-provided accounts for a few hundred radon cases. The agency's radon indens, which the agency has estimated total as many as 20,000 deaths a year, said Mike Cook, an agency's Office of Drinking Water.
Radon, a radioactive gas that can be concentrated in houses, generally arises from the soil beneath a home. It is also found in foundation cracks or other entrances.
But expellers have known for several years that water can carry radionuclides. They say that the amount of the water but by liberating the gas into the air through washing, washings and blowing down.
Cook commented on a discussion the USA Today Television Show played against the news media across the country that said 72 percent had "dangerously high" radon levels.
Cook did not use the term 'dangerous.' He said the poll findings suggested that would increase the risk of getting lung cancer by about one in 10,000, the risk level used informally to determine when action is needed.
This risk level would correspond to 200 picuces a liter of water, which the agency believes would add 0.02 picuces a liter to the air in a typical home, roughly a tenth of the normal outdoor concentration.
A picurie is a standard measure volatile organic compound regulations are aimed at 30 deaths a year."
The agency's regulations on radioactivity in water do not cover radon, but EPA expects to ask for public comment soon on possible
of radiation
Last week's call for home tests said homeowners should find the radon source and try to reduce it if inhouse contamination is above a picocuries a liter of air. The agency says this test is not necessary if lung cancer by about one in 100
Probably half the private wells in the country show some contamination with radon and about 30,000 public water supplies contain 20,000 plants with perphaps 5,000 systems above 10,000 pplacesures a liter. Cook said.
"We believe it accounts for only a few percent of all radon deaths, but at a hundred deaths per year, radon rooms as large a contaminant than ours are dealing with," Cook said. "Our recently adopted Cools, applied."
The water-source concern arose the same day that two employees of LEAP's waste programs released an email that questioned Thomas asking if the agency was not
overlooking a source of indoor radon in building materials.
The two employees, Hugh Kaufman and William Sanjour, said in their letter that the agency in 1978 considered classifying some sources of hazardous materials as hazards waste but eventually left them unregulated.
Kaufman and Sanjour said they had never seen any studies about building materials contributing to the radon problem.
EPA spokesman Chris Rice said the agency had concluded that building contributors to radon only in the West, where uranium mill waste might have been used, or where钻山胶 from Florida had been used.
"Kraiuan has not been involved with radon for 12 years," said Dave Cohen, a radiation technician. "Since then, the agency has built building materials be relegible.
Ozark Caving Trip with SUA Outdoor Recreation Sept. 30 through Oct. 2
We will explore two natural, undeveloped caves in the Waynesville area.
The cost is $15 and includes two nights camping with three meals included.
For more information, call Student Union Activities at 864-3477 or stop by the SUA Office at the Kansas Union.
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