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Henry Valenzano CMI (Hank) is the only Board Certified Master Inspector in Southern Colorado I am insured and bonded with over Thirty years of training and experience to inspect your home. Know Your Home Before You Buy |
The U.S. Surgeon General, Richard Carmona, Issues New National Health Advisory on RadonOn January 13, 2005 the Surgeon General of the United States issued a Health Advisory warning Americans about the health risk from exposure to radon in indoor air. The Nation’s Chief Physician urged Americans to test their homes to find out how much radon they might be breathing. Dr. Carmona also stressed the need to remedy the problem as soon as possible when the radon level is 4 pCi/L or more. Dr. Carmona noted that more than 20,000 Americans die of radon-related lung cancer each year. You can view the EPA news release and the Surgeon General's press release Why not just measure radon?Measurement devices that measure only radon gas, provide an indication of potential health risk. However, the primary health risk associated with the presence of radon gas is due to the solid particles that radon decays into. It is these radon decay products that actually "stick" in the lungs that cause an increased potential for lung cancer. Since the amount of radon decay products available for inhalation can vary with house and atmospheric conditions, a radon gas measurement alone does not fully characterize the actual health risk present in a building. This is particularly true in buildings where high air circulation and the use of air filters can have a large impact of reducing exposure to radon decay products. Why not just measure radon decay products?Since it is the decay products of radon that present the primary health risk associated with the presence of radon, it is logical that measurement of radon decay products would be preferable over radon gas measurements. In fact, health risk studies are based upon either the direct measurement or estimation of radon decay product levels. Historically, radon decay product measurement devices have been expensive and required complicated instrumentation, but not anymore! PGL in combination with distinguished researchers and manufacturers have redeveloped technologies to make these types of measurements very cost-effective. Nonetheless, PGL believes that measuring radon decay products alone does not provide an indication of the potential risk that could occur from a given radon gas level. Why measure both radon and radon decay products?By measuring both radon and radon and radon decay products, one is provided with a measure of the actual risk (from radon decay products) and the potential risk (from radon gas). This provides a much more thorough characterization than either measurement would by itself. More importantly, the use of both measurements allows one to identify the beneficial effects of air circulation, particulate air filters and clean indoor air that serve to reduce exposure to radon decay products, that otherwise would not be detected by a radon gas measurement alone. This can provide significant economies, especially for buildings with high air circulation (schools, commercial buildings, homes with forced air circulation, etc.) and also provide alternative risk reduction techniques that can serve to improve other indoor air quality concerns. What if a Radon Decay Product measurement is below EPA's action level, but the Radon measurement is above EPA's action level?"The question is often asked: Is radon decay product measurement an acceptable procedure? The answer to this question is yes. EPA recognizes two testing procedures. One is the direct measurement of radon decay products and the second is the measurement of radon gas. Now if all factors are equal, the direct measurement of radon decay products is the preferable approach and this is because it provides the most accurate assessment of health risk."Dr. Milton Lammering, Radiation Program Manager, Region VIII, US EPA (ret.)
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