Radon testing

[Tollster]

Radon is always a concern here in the northeast, the general public recieves normal amouts of atmospheris radiation throughout the year of about 360-500 milirems, this is through natural sources such as decaying ground radiation, and solar. These exposures are consisdered external amounts and are a mix of alpha, (stop my a piece of paper) beta (penetrates a few skin layers deep) and gamma ( Full penetration of body, shield by lead, water, concrete). Radon I believe is considered to be alpha (not sure), but when inhaled its considered internal dose. Internal doses have to be passed through the body when ingested, unlike external. so it stays with you longer, I believe radon has a short half life, but over long term exposure it may never be fully excremented from the body. So long term cronic exposure can certianly shorten your stay on mother earth.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Radon is a daughter product from the decay of Uranium/Thorium. It is a gas and would eminate from the concrete/rock from which the foundation, basement or facade of your home is made. Consequently, if you live in an area where Radium, Uranium and other radioactive isotopes are present, and your basement is constructed from those materials or from materials from such an area, you should be concerned enough to test your basement. long term exposure can cause lung cancer, especially if you smoke.

Most local health departments will test it for you free or for a reasonable fee.

Check this out:

http://www.epa.gov/radon/zonemap.html

 

[QRTRHRS]

I have had two houses with radon mitigation. The first one was already mitigated by drilling a hole into the slab, inserting a pipe into the slab, sealing the pipe then running it though to the roof with a Fantech fan running 24/7. The second was revealed when I had the test done as part of the purchase agreement. That house was built on a slope with plenty of groundwater movement so they had put a 2x4 between the wall and the slab in the basement just in case they had water. The mitigation contractor put plastic channel over the gap. He then ran two vertical pvc pipes to a header then through the wall rather than to breach the roof. The fan was on the outside of the house.

Having taken classes on radon years ago, I personnally believe the threat is real. Though well known, radon really came to light when a worker at the PPEG Limerick Plant in PA triggered a radiation detector from exposure at home.

When I had bought second place mentioned above, the elderly owner had moved somwhat close to where Limerick is. She complained about after mitigating the house she sold me that she then had to mitigate her well water at the new place because radon can be present in water as well.

Some builders in the "radon belt" will lay 4" pipe with an accessable vertical under the slab just in case later mitigation should be an issue.

FWIW, some of the highest radon readings ever recorded can be found on the Blue Mountain along the Appalachian Trail a little north of RT309. Sounds like a good place to spend the night in your sleeping bag, lol.

It has been quite some time since those classes I had but if I recall correctly, radon may not show up say when first tested for then may appear at a later date.

 

[tcartwri]

Once an alpha particle is injested or inhaled, it is with you for life. The body typically cannot process it or remove it.

 

[SpringHollow]

I get very high spikes of radon every so often in my well water. Fortunately, I have a low yield well (not often you can say fortunately about that) so i just bubble air through my holding tank and vent with a radon fan. That brings the levels down instantly.

Ken

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Once an alpha particle is injested or inhaled, it is with you for life. The body typically cannot process it or remove it.

Tim, your statement could be misleading to some without a bit of explanation. First of all, Radon is a gas, and when inhaled, can be exhaled. Some of the decay products are solids, and may remain in the lungs, some of which cannot be expelled, and will sit there emitting radiation for years. If you have a basement that is continually producing a significant amount of Radon gas, you will breathe it in and out continually, meaning you lungs are continually exposed to radiation.

Radiation emitting particles, when injested, have what is known as a biological half life...meaning that they will pass almost entirely out of the body in a certain amount of time, unless, of course, you get a fatal dose. These radiation emitting particles include things like Uranium, Thorium, Radium, etc. If the radiation emitting particle is water soluble, the body will eventually eliminate it.

When an alpha, beta or gamma particle strikes the body, the energy is dissipated in the body, damaging cells and chromosomes in the process. That particle ceases to exist, but the solid matter emitting the radiation may sit there emitting a continuous stream of particles.

Although alpha particles cannot penetrate more than a sheet of paper, when a material like Radon or Plutonium is inhaled, and it stays in the lung, it may emit hundreds or thousands of alpha particles per second, all expending their energy in the lung...and the energy expended is considerable.

The danger from Radon is no joke; if you live in a suspect area, or if your basement, or foundation contains material from such an area, you should take it seriously.

 

[LBrown59]

I would never buy a place that has radon on it.

 

[brin]

I ordered a radon test kit...and I have to put it in just one place..so I was thinking if I can only pick one place I should put it in the basement since it is under the whole house...my reasoning is , if there is radon there then it must be everywhere above..Am I wrong ? When I built the house I put down a vapor barrier before the basement concrete was poured so that makes me feel better...right ?

 

[grsthegreat]

Well i personally think radon mitigation is just another worthless operation to generate vast amounts of $$$$.

The EPA states that Radon is the major source for lung cancer next to cigarettes, but there isn't any actual scientific literature sites linked to this claim. I have been to several meetings about this over the years, and not a single person giving the lecture has shown any actual scientific studies that link Radon specifically to lung cancer. The tests they'd site just link non-smokers to lung cancer. but these tests don't say anything about second hand smoke.

All i know for an absolute fact is when i worked in Calif as a contractor, i had to call the Asbestos testers and mitigators whenever i tore down an old building. The guy would arrive in his Ferrari to walk the site. $35,000 later his "crew" would have stripped the site of asbestos.

Now, after the LA riots, the EPA canceled all asbestos testing on anything taken to the dump during demo and re-building to speed up the process. So i guess Asbestos poisoning disappears with riots???

So while i digressed away from radon, i think that the asbestos problems are just as overblown. Sure, if i was working IN an asbestos mine OR living in a town next to an Asbestos mine i would be worried, but as usual the EPA overblew an issue until its absolutely ridiculous and another "schemers" dream come true.

 

[SpringHollow]

The risks from asbestos are real. The cancer caused by asbestos is fairly unique. My FIL died of lung cancer. He never smoked but he spent most of his life doing tile floors. The mastic in many of the older floors was asbestos. The company he worked for routinely had him use floor sanders to remove the mastic. When the doctors identified the type of cancer, they said it was almost certainly caused by asbestos and wanted to know how he had been exposed.

Does that mean all of the required procedures for dealing with asbestos make sense - no. We have had to pay large amounts of money to asbestos contractors to cart away stone tops that had asbestos in them. The asbestos was not friable and the contractors took no special precautions because they were not needed. But that is very different than saying to someone it is okay to cut it with an abrasive saw.

Ken