National Radon Action Month — Take Action, Folks!

Life without change is death, unless you happen to be a brick, or a cloud, or an ice cube. Then…well, then change is death. It is, in this regard, that we consider the topic of air pollution within structures. Whether it be residential, commercial, municipal, or otherwise, air quality inside our fishbowls remains well disregarded.

You can’t see the air in your home, but it’s there…just like water in a fishbowl.

Enter radon and National Radon Action Month (see IEA or NRPP or Kansas State Seminar Video or EPA). When I was in middle school in East Tennessee many years ago (we still used compasses then to know we were east) I remember artwork in the hallways depicting radon as various incarnations of bad things, like a monster under a bed.

Known as the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers, estimated as causing 21,000 lung cancer deaths annually, this classified carcinogen is a known bad apple. What’s lesser understood is that this danger ranks above second-hand smoke, which is listed as the third leading cause of lung cancer. Or, how about for non-smokers, the risk of lung cancer at the minimum actionable level for mitigation 4.0 pCi/L (the level at which the U.S.A. decided concentrations merit mitigation to reduce indoor levels) is equivalent – yes, I said equivalent – to the risk of dying in a car crash. If you smoke/smoked, that risk increases to 5 times the risk of dying in a car crash. All from a naturally occurring gas that originates from naturally occurring materials naturally present in our soils/geologies. See tables in this EPA consumer guide.

In our region, karst formations (think caves and limestone) directly affect radon concentrations — geology matters.

Now, in my multi-hat role as both a licensed home inspector in Tennessee, as well as a building consultant for consumers and builders, I’ve come to believe radon is an example of why indoor air quality (IAQ) is so important for our health and indoor environment quality (IEQ).

True story – in my immediate market there are builders, real estate professionals, governmental officials, and regular citizens that feel radon isn’t real or a risk. But these same people also know people who have died from vehicular accidents and the stats are similar. One is simply more tangible than the other. You know, with my own ears I once heard a well-respected engineer say there was “no such thing as radon.” The man believed in formulas and numbers he couldn’t see off paper, but felt radon was a conspiracy. There are many like him.

The data and science are clear – to date, there is no known safe level of long-term exposure to our radioactive gas friend, radon. With interior averages assumed to be around 1.3 pCi/L and exterior average concentrations assumed to be around 0.4 pCi/L, we can’t get away from it. Ever. But, there’s a difference between 1.3 pCi/L – where roughly 2 non-smokers out of 1,000 are assumed to get lung cancer from exposure – and 4.0 pCi/L where roughly 7 non-smokers out of 1,000 are assumed to get lung cancer from exposure. Those rates increase for smokers.

How comfortable are you with gambling…for your life?

Now, you may say 7 out of 1,000 isn’t bad. And, it’s not. But, if you flip the understanding of those odds to the lottery…we’d all play if our chances of winning were 7 out of 1,000 (average assumed odds are near 1 to 300 million for the lottery jackpots). By the way, flesh eating bacteria odds are set at 1 million to 1, but we seem a crap-ton more afraid of our flesh being eaten than lung cancer from radon. And, I look at my family – I wouldn’t want any one of them to leave my worldly experience sooner than needed (with pain and fear, to boot) because I chose to not care about what couldn’t be seen.

Final thoughts – know that radon is a scientifically testable and proven radioactive gas. Know it can be tested for and mitigated. Know that you should test where you live and try talking to your representatives about testing in municipal and school buildings where so many of our loved ones spend the majority of their days. Just do yourself a favor and hire the services of a nationally certified entity or your state department, if you have one. The links at the top of this page to IEA and NRPP can get you to necessary directories. Costs for testing depend on location of the country, test method, and level of trained professional. For those you love and for those who love you, test for what you can’t see. It’s there folks, you just don’t know how much of it is there unless you test.

National Radon Action Month. Every January.

Radon. January is National Radon Action Month. Not exclusively this January. Every January. It remains an on-going push to make citizens aware of the presence and potential danger of radon. Like cholesterol, you don’t really know how you have it until you test for it. And, yes, I said “how.” The data available, albeit oldish, indicates every one of our homes, rental properties, schools, offices, and grocery stores has some amount of radon concentration present. Like I tell my son regarding schoolwork, it’s the concentration that makes all the difference.

Please To Meet You, Er…

Now, if you have never had the pleasure of meeting a radioactive gas – well, you are in good company since we can’t see it, taste it, touch it, smell it. And, as far as we know, our dogs and cats don’t notice it either, or perhaps they choose to not tell us. But, radon as a radioactive gas is there. And there. And there. And even outside, though exterior concentrations are thought to not be an issue as amounts are generally well below 1.0 pCi/L (picocuries of radon per liter of air – if you live anywhere else than the U.S., becquerels are the chosen measuring stick…and, yes, there is a conversion rate).

I realize my tone is less than serious but make no mistake – the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers is serious. 21,000 deaths (estimated) each year is serious. Being labeled as a Category A carcinogen by the EPA is serious. It’s serious street cred. for radon and serious for us humans with cellular tissues (if you happen to be a human sans cellular tissues, I’ll try and keep an open mind…). Radon is real – did I tell you all the story of the well-known engineer in my market who told a client (with me present) radon wasn’t real?!? True story. Another time perhaps.

Radon Really is Real

Okay. So. Radon is real. Radon can be detected via testing. Testing can be performed by you the homeowner, your neighbor, a housing professional, an industry expert, and in states like Tennessee, well-trained walruses. Testing equipment can be acquired from the state, from online, from some local retailers, from housing professionals, from industry experts, and in states like Tennessee, well-known engineers and real estate professionals who know more than trained scientists. I’m not bitter, just incredulous.

Credit: AARST for all their hard work and continued desire to save lives from radon exposure. This is their data and their image, readily available. But, it’s theirs.

The issue is that just anyone testing for radon would be like just anyone teaching your kid about religion, gun control, or geometry. We have enough odd angles in this world – no one wants that. Or, like just anyone teaching you how to skydive. You with me now?

Dealing With Radon Requires Professionals

What we need as a consumer base is quality control and quality assurance. And how do we get that? We set standards of education, of practice, of professionalism. Enter AARST and NRPP and NRSB. We mandate certification for those who want to test (fewer than half our states require such certification – online data claims TN requires it, but trust me, TN does NOT…unfortunately). We set similar standards for equipment used and procedures for accurate testing and management of testing equipment. Which means – homeowner tests, neighbor tests, and poorly trained professionals tests should not be viewed as the ideal solution; it’s like taking your child to McDonald’s because she has a sore throat…I mean, maybe the person helping you will be in med school. Plus, you get fries and a shake.

The other important component to understand here is that radon is not difficult (in most scenarios) to mitigate AND is preventatively mitigated in new construction in many jurisdictions already (but, not nearly enough). However, testing is key, as is disclosure. If accurate testing does not occur, and said information is not provided to concerned parties, no good comes from any of it. And, believe it or not, there are fewer than two handfuls of states that require any sort of radon disclosure to renters (please read: landlords are not required to test and make sure their buildings for which they are charging borderline mortgage rates are safe for the people who move into them). And that’s crazy. The same is true for most public schools and municipal buildings.

Tangent Time…

Now, on a more skewed perspective – I also think we’ve been slowly poisoning our residential home professionals (home inspectors and diagnosticians such as myself) without any care or concern. Did you know I have no retirement package when I retire? The state gives me nothing. So, if I contract lung cancer from prolonged elevated dose exposure over the duration of my career (beyond 11 years now), I’m on my own for medical care.

Scientifically speaking, when radon decays at half-life, it releases alpha particles (as does radon’s progeny) and these high-energy particles are what get embedded in lung tissues when we inhale and they then disrupt our cellular processes increasing cancer-potential. Well, these high-energy particles are too large to pass through most materials, so they “plate out” when they come into contact (meaning they become harmless for the most part). I have adopted a practice in recent years of wearing face masks (entirely unrelated to our lovely pandemic that shall not be named) in order to improve my odds of NOT inhaling said alpha particles. I’m hoping that more of them plate out on my face mask. It’s simple science with absolutely no data or studies to back it up. But, there is nothing out there for my industry to help us be safe against radon exposure. And, even though any one dose may not be an issue, prolonged and constant dosing over many years definitely increases the risk of developing lung disease. If any of you know of dose packs/monitors that are readily available for residential home professionals, let me know.

In The End

The moral of the story is test for radon and talk to a family member and one friend about testing for radon. If you test and it comes back high, ask for the data. If you test and it comes back low, ask for the data. If you mitigate for radon, have it tested post-mitigation and every 2 years afterward (also, consider having the system reviewed by someone who is certified for doing so [pick me, pick me] ). If you live in anything but a tent or tree house, have it tested. Then test it again in 2-3 years. Like our school systems tell us about the competency of our children – it isn’t worth a flip if you aren’t testing. Except for radon, there really is no controversy for always testing. Because, now all of us can have consumer grade radon monitors in our homes (search for it, people – there are many readily available). And remember, January is National Radon Action Month.

TNergy Services maintains national certification through NRPP for testing, analysis, and soil gas mitigation system inspecting. We offer a full range of indoor environmental quality services, radon testing being one such service provided via our sister company, WIN Home Inspection Cookeville.