Technical > Home Improvement > Educate me on Radon

Educate me on Radon

Back in the 80's, my wife was the primary Health Physicist assigned to radon studies in CDC's radiation studies branch and worked closely to set the public exposure guidelines with EPA.

If memory serves, the exposure guidelines can be viewed in the EPA docs that she coauthored lo' those many years ago. The current EPA guideline docs are at:
»www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/index.html
I haven't looked at them in a long time and my wife moved into other cancer epidemiology work long ago.

CDC's site had plenty of radon info: »www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/broch···adon.htm
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On the EPA's website link you provided there's a PDF there that I went through. It gave me quite a good bit of information. Thank you very much.
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A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. -MLK

I'm glad the info was useful. My advice is to follow the advice on the CDC and EPA websites. Test the home, and if the guidelines suggest it, assure that remediation mitigation work is done and maintained to reduce the risk of the occupants.

You should search the archives of the Home Improvement forum here with keyword "radon" as I recall there have been some threads where members showed pics of their remediation systems in their homes along with discussions.

Edit: The right term is "mitigation" not "remediation".
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reply to Archivis
We live in NH so Radon is often a problem due to all the Granite. I have done my own tests in the basement and several years ago participated in the state Radon project. Test results have varied widely. I assume the long term state test is the most accurate: 2.3 1st fl and 3.2 pCi/L in the basement. Results from short term testing we did ourselves were all over the place: 6.1, 3.4, 1.9, and 6.0 pCi/L.

Based on the test results have have not implemented a mitigation strategy. One thing I did many years ago is bring in fresh air into the basement. We heat with wood and the house is very tight. I installed a 4" flexible duct that terminates near the wood stove and installed a small axial fan to bring in fresh air. I leave the fan running all year long. I have no idea how effective it is but certainly cannot hurt. I don't remember if the fan was on during the various Radon tests or not.

I'm on the fence as to the danger of low level exposure, if the danger is high one would think there would be stronger correlation between exposure and cancer rates. That being said I'd walk away from a house that had significantly elevated rate.

I don't have any direct experience with removal systems but from what I have read they are effective. Basically a fan driven collection system sucks Radon out of the ground at foundation level and vents it to the atmosphere.

/tom

My realtor said that there was a home that was at a 140picowhatever rate. He said that in PA, the ideal level is below 4. The EPA documentation suggests 2-4 is where you want to be (well, less than 2 is great, but supposedly hard to accomplish on your own).

This 140-level home had a system put in place and was able to get down below 4.
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A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. -MLK

If the house is air-tight, you might have higher levels. Older homes that aren't insulated well, tend to have most air (heat) loss so that can be a factor.

I live in SE PA and several units (adjacent to me) have had testing and mitigation. I have not. Mitigation can be nothing more than company drilling/cutting hole in the basement floor, create a space and remove soil-fill, flange with PVC piping, a static gauge (liquid/display), and an outside exhaust fan inline (runs 24/7) to duct-pipe. (creates static pressure to pull the radon gas outside, away from underneath the house).

IMHO, radon has been around since before man walked this planet; it is the natural gas of isotope decay. They claim most that have died from (radon) lung cancer, don't specify whether they were also smokers, ex smokers, or in contact with other lung issues (welding, painting....). But since folks are making lower basements into living spaces, no one really knows. plus, there are stories that it helps some folks. LMGTFY...
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Splat

reply to Archivis
My house had a 1.1pCi/L when tested... and yet the Geiger counter goes crazy near the air filter. Actually I caught this by accident, wanted to see if the granite countertops emitted any significant radiation (they didn't), but in a certain area of the kitchen the levels were just a bit higher. After investigating in the basement I noticed that the levels were higher near the air handler... the "hot" area of the kitchen was above the air handler.

reply to Archivis
pC/L is pico-Curies per Liter... Curies as in Marie Curie, a pioneer of radiation research, which ultimately killed her

EPA "action" level was 4.1pC/L when I bought my house in Fall 2010. The WHO was recommending under 2.9pC/L.

The general consensus amount realtors was that anything over 4.1pC/L you could request a mitigation system be installed... below that, and you were pushing your luck (i.e. might as well just ask for $1000 off the sale price).

The basement of the home I bought was a wreck, a pane was missing from a basement window and taped up with a trash bag only a day or two (supposedly) before the test, two full sized exterior windows in the basement had no sashes installed (open to outside), they were put back in with the trash bags (and the sills were so rotted they might as well have been opened an inch or two). The exterior walk out door had a 1" gap at the bottom allowing water/air to pass by easily. I ended up with mid-3's on my testing.

After I replaced the broken windows and doors the level rose to about 8-9pC/L according to an electronic radon device I bought. It's +/-5pC/L seasonally and based on the amount of rain we receive.

I suppose when I sell I will be asked to take action...

reply to Archivis

reply to Archivis
I'm not an expert, but personally I wouldn't want to have to mitigate radon or think about trying to resell the home down the line ---even with a mitigation system installed.

I guess I'd think about getting out of the contract (you do have it under contract right)

Maybe I'm totally off on this one and most people don't really care about radon --- I would. Just my 2 cents.

reply to Archivis
My parents had a house built in 2001 when I was living at home. The radon level in the basement was several times above the EPA action level.

The house was built with a "passive radon mitigation system" which was essentially a sealed sump pit with a 4" PVC vent pipe leading to the roof. There was a perimeter drain field attached to the sump pit as well.

I added an inline blower to the vent pipe and a manometer to monitor the sub-slab vacuum level. Subsequent re-tests showed radon levels *well* under the EPA limit. Total cost was $200 or so.

The blower has been running 24/7 for 11+ years now.

»residential.fantech.net/resident···st-fans/

reply to cowboyro

reply to Archivis
Dup post.

reply to Archivis
Just make sure you list it as a contingency in your contract so if it does have radon you can have the seller pay for the mitigation system or have the right to pull out of the sale. Many areas have radon, call your health department. Where I live there is a lot of shale so most homes in my township have radon and a mitigation system. IMHO if the area if it is not common pass on the house due to resell. If it is common u won't find a house without it.
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We put a bid on a house today for a house that has a mitigation system in place. We will be scheduling a Radon inspection for $100 once everything else gets signed (amongst other inspections).
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A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. -MLK

When we were buying our current house it tested above the acceptable level for radon. We split the cost of the system because the bank would not approve the loan if the house tested in the red.

reply to Archivis
So all of you home owners with mitigation systems are intentionally pumping radiation into the atmosphere we all breath? Shouldn't you be held accountable for improper radiation release?

reply to Archivis
For those of you who have had a mitigation system installed -- what is the configuration of the outside vent?

We're buying a house and had the seller install a system as the Radon level was above the EPA standard. The vent pipe exits the basement just above ground level, and the fan unit is on the outside of the house. The vent pipe runs up the side of the house and terminates in a 90* elbow below the roofline. I can see why they chose to run the vent outside as they would have had to punch through two floors to get to the roof, but I'm a little surprised they put the fan unit outside.

My main question is about that elbow -- I think it should have some kind of screen or cap on it; our agent says that's fairly typical for this area. Thoughts?
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Sarcasm is the Body's Natural Defense Against Stupidity