If you have ever known of a non-smoker who died of lung cancer, you probably pondered how that could have happened. Considerable media coverage has pointed an accusing finger at second hand smoke, but there may be another culprit. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, "Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer in America among non-smokers and claims more than 20,000 lives annually."
"Radon is a naturally occurring environmental carcinogen," according to Amy Fields, spokesperson for the American Cancer Society. "Most radon-induced cases of lung cancer occur in smokers, reflecting synergy between smoking and radon exposure. Quitting smoking is an essential part of prevention, but the estimates of radon-caused lung cancer are also substantial. Radon-induced lung cancer can be prevented by reducing radon levels in homes and other buildings."
____________
Testing is important to determine if your location is at risk. Sometimes radon gateways are easy to spot. Remediation can be as simple and economical as caulking cracks in floors and walls.
____________
You probably briefly studied about radon in high school or college chemistry as an element on the periodic table. It also "is a cancer-causing natural radioactive gas that you can’t see, smell or taste," according to the EPA. Radon is produced by the radioactive decay of uranium, which is present to some degree in all rocks and soils. Concentrated by the movement of ground water, gases like radon release into homes and workplaces through cracks in floors and walls often too small for solids or liquids to penetrate.
In fact, the danger of radon was discovered in 1984 in the case of Stanley Waltras, an employee at the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant in Pennsylvania. In routine employee testing, alarming levels of radiation were discovered in Waltras. Surprisingly, the source was eventually tracked--not to the power plant--but to radon contaminated air in the basement of the Waltras home. Carcinogenic radiation exposure there was estimated to be equivalent to smoking 135 packs of cigarettes per day!
I asked a random dozen Chattanoogans about what they knew of the risk of radon. Other than some general awareness that radon is not good for you, they did not associate radon with lung cancer. The problem may be the lack of top of mind awareness. Unlike cigarettes, labels about radon are difficult to affix. And unlike smoke detectors, radon detectors are not sold on end caps at local Wal-Marts. Information is readily available if you search on the Internet. But first you must be aware and concerned enough to perform the search.
Calls to regional offices of the EPA in Atlanta and the Tennessee Department of Envrionment and Conservation's Radiological Health unit in Nashville to inquire about specific efforts to promote radon awareness in the Chattanooga area went unreturned.
The EPA has created a public service announcement that compares the Surgeon General's Warning on cigarette packages with a similar Surgeon General's Warning about radon. You can view the ad at http://www.epa.gov/radon/rnpsa.html.
Unfortunately local television stations cannot confirm that they have ever aired the ad. Though she thinks WRCB-TV12 might have aired a radon ad in the past, Doris Ellis, programming director, explained, "We receive hundreds of public service announcements, especially during election time."
According to Ellis, "The way to warn Chattanoogans about the risk of radon is for an authority to be interviewed on one of the news broadcasts." It turns out, however, that there is no local authority promoting radon awareness.
Iowa ranks as the state that leads the nation in naturally occuring radon, so it logically follows that the state has done the most to study the health risks posed by the element. But what about Tennessee and Georgia? How prevalent is it here?
The EPA provides national and state maps showing three levels of radon incidence. However, it warns that the maps are "not intended to be used to determine if a home in a given zone should be tested for radon. Homes with elevated levels of radon have been found in all three zones. All homes should be tested regardless of geographic location."
A study at Oak Ridge National Laboratories revealed that the United States Department of Energy has conducted quarterly ambient air monitoring in the environment surrounding ORNL facilities including in nearby Scarboro since 1986. "The level of radiation received by Scarboro residents is not a health hazard." Note, however, that this is surface "ambient" exposure.
A "Tennessee Agricultural Research and Extension System Report from the University of Tennessee and Tennessee State University to the United States Department of Agriculture" stated that of "463 home radon tests conducted in 2003, 145 (31%) were at or above the level recommended for treatment by the Environmental Protection Agency."
Air Check, a leading radon test kit lab located in Fletcher, North Carolina, reports that average test results for Tennessee are above the 4 pCi/l threshold at which the EPA recommends remediation, while the average for Georgia is well below. However, keep in mind that the EPA insists that all homes should be tested regardless of geographic location.
_______________
Solids and liquids may not be able to pass through, but gases like radon can. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers, equivalent to smoking up to 135 packs of cigarettes per day in some cases.
_______________
Though Wal-Mart doesn't carry radon detectors, Lowe's and Home Depot do sell passive test kits for less than $20 and they are even more affordable online starting at around $10 from sites such as radon.com, testproducts.com and ebay.com.
Passive testing involves hanging the self-mailer envelope at the normal breathing level in a room. After two to three days it is sealed air tight while in the testing room. Then it is mailed to the lab for measurement. The results are provided by return mail or email.
Extensive radon information can be found at http://www.epa.gov/radon/ and at http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_1_3x_Radon.asp?sitearea=PED as well as other Internet sites.
"Radon is a naturally occurring environmental carcinogen," according to Amy Fields, spokesperson for the American Cancer Society. "Most radon-induced cases of lung cancer occur in smokers, reflecting synergy between smoking and radon exposure. Quitting smoking is an essential part of prevention, but the estimates of radon-caused lung cancer are also substantial. Radon-induced lung cancer can be prevented by reducing radon levels in homes and other buildings."
____________Testing is important to determine if your location is at risk. Sometimes radon gateways are easy to spot. Remediation can be as simple and economical as caulking cracks in floors and walls.
____________
You probably briefly studied about radon in high school or college chemistry as an element on the periodic table. It also "is a cancer-causing natural radioactive gas that you can’t see, smell or taste," according to the EPA. Radon is produced by the radioactive decay of uranium, which is present to some degree in all rocks and soils. Concentrated by the movement of ground water, gases like radon release into homes and workplaces through cracks in floors and walls often too small for solids or liquids to penetrate.
In fact, the danger of radon was discovered in 1984 in the case of Stanley Waltras, an employee at the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant in Pennsylvania. In routine employee testing, alarming levels of radiation were discovered in Waltras. Surprisingly, the source was eventually tracked--not to the power plant--but to radon contaminated air in the basement of the Waltras home. Carcinogenic radiation exposure there was estimated to be equivalent to smoking 135 packs of cigarettes per day!
I asked a random dozen Chattanoogans about what they knew of the risk of radon. Other than some general awareness that radon is not good for you, they did not associate radon with lung cancer. The problem may be the lack of top of mind awareness. Unlike cigarettes, labels about radon are difficult to affix. And unlike smoke detectors, radon detectors are not sold on end caps at local Wal-Marts. Information is readily available if you search on the Internet. But first you must be aware and concerned enough to perform the search.
Calls to regional offices of the EPA in Atlanta and the Tennessee Department of Envrionment and Conservation's Radiological Health unit in Nashville to inquire about specific efforts to promote radon awareness in the Chattanooga area went unreturned.
The EPA has created a public service announcement that compares the Surgeon General's Warning on cigarette packages with a similar Surgeon General's Warning about radon. You can view the ad at http://www.epa.gov/radon/rnpsa.html.
Unfortunately local television stations cannot confirm that they have ever aired the ad. Though she thinks WRCB-TV12 might have aired a radon ad in the past, Doris Ellis, programming director, explained, "We receive hundreds of public service announcements, especially during election time."
According to Ellis, "The way to warn Chattanoogans about the risk of radon is for an authority to be interviewed on one of the news broadcasts." It turns out, however, that there is no local authority promoting radon awareness.
Iowa ranks as the state that leads the nation in naturally occuring radon, so it logically follows that the state has done the most to study the health risks posed by the element. But what about Tennessee and Georgia? How prevalent is it here?
The EPA provides national and state maps showing three levels of radon incidence. However, it warns that the maps are "not intended to be used to determine if a home in a given zone should be tested for radon. Homes with elevated levels of radon have been found in all three zones. All homes should be tested regardless of geographic location."
A study at Oak Ridge National Laboratories revealed that the United States Department of Energy has conducted quarterly ambient air monitoring in the environment surrounding ORNL facilities including in nearby Scarboro since 1986. "The level of radiation received by Scarboro residents is not a health hazard." Note, however, that this is surface "ambient" exposure.
A "Tennessee Agricultural Research and Extension System Report from the University of Tennessee and Tennessee State University to the United States Department of Agriculture" stated that of "463 home radon tests conducted in 2003, 145 (31%) were at or above the level recommended for treatment by the Environmental Protection Agency."
Air Check, a leading radon test kit lab located in Fletcher, North Carolina, reports that average test results for Tennessee are above the 4 pCi/l threshold at which the EPA recommends remediation, while the average for Georgia is well below. However, keep in mind that the EPA insists that all homes should be tested regardless of geographic location.
_______________Solids and liquids may not be able to pass through, but gases like radon can. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers, equivalent to smoking up to 135 packs of cigarettes per day in some cases.
_______________
Though Wal-Mart doesn't carry radon detectors, Lowe's and Home Depot do sell passive test kits for less than $20 and they are even more affordable online starting at around $10 from sites such as radon.com, testproducts.com and ebay.com.
Passive testing involves hanging the self-mailer envelope at the normal breathing level in a room. After two to three days it is sealed air tight while in the testing room. Then it is mailed to the lab for measurement. The results are provided by return mail or email.
Extensive radon information can be found at http://www.epa.gov/radon/ and at http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_1_3x_Radon.asp?sitearea=PED as well as other Internet sites.
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