Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 21, 1993 TAG: 9303190114
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RANDY UDAVCAK SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
THE INVISIBLE PERIL STAFF RADON GAS LEVELS IN HOMES ARE A CAUSE FOR CONCERN
Radon gas levels in residential and public buildings have drawn increasing attention in the last eight years as health officials have learned more about its effects.The Environmental Protection Agency says radon is the nation's second-leading cause of lung cancer and is a factor in at least 7,000 deaths per year.
Recent EPA studies of Virginia indicate that Montgomery County has one of the highest radon levels in the state, high enough to cause concern. The study is based on radon-test readings in public buildings and private homes.
Montgomery County figures used for the study were fairly complete; many rural counties provided state and federal authorities with insufficient data, so an accurate picture of many Western Virginia counties' radon levels isn't available.
Radon is a colorless, odorless gas that occurs naturally from the decay of the Earth's uranium deposits. Radon normally enters the air in small amounts that are not harmful.
The gas can, however, enter a home (possibly through cracks in the foundation) and become trapped, greatly increasing its concentration. Radon gas combines readily with dust particles normally in the air and may be easily inhaled, with consequential health risks.
The EPA study put Montgomery among the state's "zone 1" counties, those with the highest levels of radon. Montgomery's average predicted household reading is higher than 4 picocuries per liter, the "action line" at which steps should be taken to reduce radon levels in the house.
Lelia T. Mayton, a home economist with the Montgomery County Cooperative Extension Office, said the first goal of health officials statewide is public awareness.
When a building is tested for radon, it's usually being sold and the prospective buyer wants to know the radon risk.
"People to a certain extent have forgotten about it [radon], or there's so many other things [to worry about], and yet radon is a lot more dangerous," Mayton said.
"There are a lot more cases of cancer as a result of radon, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's health statistics, than say, from pesticide toxicity, toxic dumps and all those kinds of things."
According to 1990 statistics gathered by the EPA in a report titled "Unfinished Business," radon is a factor in at least 7,000 cancer deaths annually nationwide, and the figure could be much higher.
For comparison, the agency cites slightly over 6,000 deaths per year from pesticide exposure, and approximately 2,000 deaths attributed to toxic outdoor air pollutants.
Mayton said Montgomery's level is not a cause for panic, but the statistics underscore the need for testing. The EPA is subsidizing the cost of homeowners' test kits, which are available through the extension office at $7 for one kit and $12 for two. "It's important that you know whether you've got a problem," she said.
Radon-detection kits consist of a small envelope containing a bag of chemically reacting powder that is hung in the basement or ground floor of the house for four to seven days.
After this time, the envelope is sealed and mailed to a laboratory for testing (the envelope is preaddressed and postage paid). An explanation of the test results is mailed to the sender with recommendations for appropriate action, if necessary.
If a problem is found, Mayton said, it may not translate into a high-dollar fix. The homeowner could have several options, depending on the severity of the problem and the construction of the house.
"If you identify that you do have a radon problem, it's not like you have to rush out and do something expensive to your house immediately," Mayton said. "The things that need to be done are usually fairly inexpensive."
At the low-cost end of this range, Mayton said, sealing cracks in basements and foundations by caulking, plastic sheeting and other means may be all that's required to bring a low level of exposure under control. "For many homes that's going to take care of it," she said.
The next level, to mitigate a more troublesome radon problem, is to install a system of exhaust fans in the foundation or other areas to prevent a gas buildup.
In more serious cases, reconstruction of crawl spaces or other foundation-level structures may be required. In rare cases it might be necessary to move from the home.
Jim Dekrafft, assistant director of the state Health Department's bureau of radiological health, said radon has to be examined and corrected one home at a time.
Virginia falls in the middle of EPA radon measurements across the United States, with an estimated 10 percent to 15 percent of its homes predicted to have radon levels above the "action line."
Dekrafft stressed that these figures are rough estimates by the EPA based on widely varying thoroughness of testing from one area to another. Despite varying sample sizes, a number of trends for Virginia can be established, he said.
"You can almost use Interstate 95 as a dividing line; east of that you're not likely to see it [radon], but in the Piedmont and mountainous regions you're going to find most of it."
Despite the possible health risks involved in radon gas buildup, Dekrafft said, the primary impetus for testing is coming from the real estate market.
"It's still not [health] concern so much. There are quite a few people who seem to be concerned about it enough to ask for a test before they buy a home. . . . We get a lot of questions about it from either real estate agents, or people buying or selling a home," Dekrafft said.
Mayton agreed. "The questions I have tended to get in many cases is somebody who's moved here from another area where it [radon] was a problem and it was in the news, and they want to know about this area," she said.
Regardless of the motivation, Dekrafft says, it's important that people in higher-concentration zones such as Montgomery County test their homes to find out if they have a problem, because concentrations often vary considerably even between houses next door to one another. "The idea is to get people to test," Dekrafft said, "because you don't really know until you test."
Order forms for radon-test kits are available through the Montgomery County Cooperative Extension Office in Christiansburg, or by calling 382-5790.
Other kinds of information - such as lists of contractors certified by the EPA for radon correction work, literature on radon gas and EPA publications - are available from the Virginia Health Department bureau of radiological health by calling (800) 468-0138.