Map of Virginia uranium!
Comment: One reason radon gas is in the Shenandoah Valley is because it has lots of uranium! If Virginia lifts the ban on uranium mining, it will be done all over Virginia! Therefore, everybody in Virginia needs to demand our state to ban uranium mining and milling today!
September 6, 2009
You might not know it, but an invisible menace could be creeping into your home.
Radon is a natural, radioactive gas you can't see, taste or smell. Created by the breakdown of uranium in the soil, radon was discovered in the early 1980s when a nuclear power plant worker in Limerick, Pa., set off radiation alarms going into the facility. An investigation traced the source to massive levels of radon that had accumulated in the basement of the worker's home.
The Shenandoah Valley, including Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County, is considered a Level 1 region — the highest risk for elevated levels of radon, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's map of radon zones.
Numerous follow-up studies since the Limerick power plant investigation have shown that, over time, exposure to high levels of radon can cause lung cancer. In fact, radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smoking adults, claiming more than 20,000 lives annually in the United States, according to the EPA.
The good news is if a home has a high radon level, owners can reduce it by installing a system that sucks the radon out of their basement and pipes it outdoors. The bad news is typical radon mitigation system costs about $1,200.
But radon expert Angel Price says her response to people hesitant to spend that much money to remove the noxious gas from their homes is simple: "It's much cheaper than treating lung cancer."
Price is executive director of the National Environmental Health Association's National Radon Proficiency Program, one of two EPA-approved organizations that certify radon measurement and mitigation professionals.
Informed homebuyers
Awareness about radon and its health effects seems to be increasing in the Central Shenandoah Valley.
"We've seen a 100 percent jump in the last two years in the number of requests for radon testing," said Bob Shipp, owner and chief inspector of Professional Home Inspections Inc. in Stuarts Draft. "The majority of those people are coming from other places, and then younger couples and people with young children ask for it more."
A radon test by a certified professional such as Shipp can run $100 to $125 with a home inspection and $150 without one. Short-term test kits also are available at retail stores and cost $12 to $14; after the test is conducted, the kits have to be sent to a lab, and it takes about two weeks for the results to come back.
No federal law exists requiring real estate agents or home inspectors to inform prospective home buyers about radon and its risks, although some states have passed notification laws.
About a year ago, Virginia revised its home inspection addendum, which agents present to homebuyers who want an inspection. It now includes a mention of the buyer's right to ask for a radon test, said Delene Adams, president of the Greater Augusta Association of Realtors and owner of Key Real Estate in Verona.
"It puts it right there in their face," she said. "Anything that increases the buyer's awareness is always favorable."
However, not every homebuyer wants an inspection, in which case the buyer would not see the addendum.
Cristin Sprenger, a Virginia Cooperative Extension agent in Verona, said she makes people aware of the risks of radon in her first-time homebuyers class.
"We talk about contingencies that can be included in the contract, and to negotiate a certain amount of money (for radon testing and/or mitigation)," Sprenger said. "But you have to know to ask about it, and many people don't know."
Sprenger also informs people about radon in the extension office's indoor air quality awareness program.
Adams said she plans, for the first time, to test the home she has owned for 17 years.
"Just knowing the inspectors and radon people got me thinking about it," she said.
Shipp said he usually leaves it up to the real estate agent to discuss radon with clients, but if he notices that a homebuyer with small children hasn't asked for a test, he often mentions it.
"Some real estate agents look at radon screening as one more potential obstacle to selling the house," he said.
Lingers in basements
Ryan Paris, radiation safety specialist for the Virginia Department of Health's Division of Radiological Health, says homeowners in Virginia should get their homes tested, regardless of what the EPA radon map shows. That's because radon levels can vary widely, even between homes in the same neighborhood.
"You have to take that map with a grain of salt," he said. "We're finding that it needs to be revised, because even in
areas where the map shows the risk to be lower, homes are coming up with high levels."
Paris said his office has advocated for cities and counties in the Shenandoah Valley and other radon hot zones to include requirements for the installation of passive radon reduction systems in building codes for new construction. Such a system helps divert radon gas out of a home through a pipe. The other advantage of a passive system: If the home still tests too high for radon, then converting it to an active system using a fan that suctions the air out through the pipe is less expensive than installing an entire system after the home is built.
So far, Lexington and Buena Vista, as well as Rockbridge and Shenandoah counties are the only localities in the Valley that have amended their building codes, Paris said.
The EPA recommends that a homeowner hire a professional radon mitigator to seal cracks and install a radon reduction system if a home has radon levels at 4 pCi/L (pico curies per liter) or higher.
Radon can enter homes through cracks and gaps that you might not see, according to the EPA and state Department of Health, and the construction and geographic location of a home can affect the amount of radon that is present inside.
Because it's a heavy gas, radon is highest at the lowest level of a home, particularly in basements.
Shipp, the Stuarts Draft home inspector, said he rarely has found radon above the maximum level recommended by the EPA in a home with a crawl space versus a basement.
"Houses on slabs are about 50-50," he said. "Houses with basements tend to be the ones most frequently getting high readings."
Thomas Mehnert is the only certified radon mitigator in the Augusta County area. He said he has installed only two systems in the last three months because of the slower real estate market.
"When it's busy, I can do two a week," he said.
Homeowner takes care
Brian Kopia, owner of Thermal Solutions Inc., a home remodeling business, asks his clients if their homes have been tested for radon before beginning a basement renovation job.
"To spend all that money on remodeling a basement, and then to have to install a mitigation system, can get very expensive for a homeowner," Kopia said.
Mehnert recently installed a radon reduction system in Kopia's Staunton home.
"Our office is in the basement, and the kids play down there," he said. "We also want to turn it into a rec room."
The system Kopia purchased includes a vacuum fan, pipes, flow meter, hidden wiring and electrical work for the fan. It cost under $1,500.
"He did a nice job. Our home was a 9 when we tested it," he said. "It's at 1.8 now."
You might not know it, but an invisible menace could be creeping into your home.
Additional Facts Radon Info:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, www.epa.gov/ radon/index
(800) 767-7236 to purchase radon test kits by phone.
(800) 557-2366 to get live help for your radon questions.
(800) 644-6999 for general information on fixing or reducing the radon level in your home.
To view the map of radon zones in Virginia, check out the story on www.newsleader.com.
http://www.newsleader.com/article/20090906/LIFESTYLE21/909060318/1024/LIFESTYLE/Valley-homes-at-high-risk-for-radon
No comments:
Post a Comment