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McCook Gazette

Radon gas on council agenda

Monday, June 2, 2008
Amy Swanson

You can't see it, taste it or smell it. Yet, it is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. What is it? It is the radioactive gas radon. "We live in a high-radon area," said Mark Graf, Assistant Director of Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department. Radon issues will be addressed at the McCook City Council on Monday.

"We will be pushing the city council to adopt radon resistant building codes," Graf said. "The best thing about making a building radon resistant is that it is not particularly costly -- it only adds about $300-500 dollars to construction costs."

Graf is optimistic about the city passing the new building codes. "So far, we have met no opposition from the city administration or city council," he said.

Of the area homes that have been tested in the past five years, more than 50 percent contain radon levels that are above the safety limit set by the Environmental Protection Agency.

It may come as a disturbing surprise to many that Southwest Nebraska contains high levels of radon. Fortunately, the people at SWNPH have been working diligently on the radon issue by raising public awareness of this naturally-occuring gas.

Radon is a gas that occurs naturally in the ground. Levels of radon are usually higher in the winter than in the summer, because the warm air inside the home pulls more of the cold gases out of the ground. The gas itself is not poisonous, but is dangerous because of the radiation it emits. Lung cancer is the most significant health effect of radon.

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  • If I remember rightly, Radon, being an heavy gas (heavier than normal atmosphere), tends to lay at the lowest level of a structure, assuming static air movement.

    In the winter, the house is closed to fresh, outdoor, air, and the furnace blower recirculates the existing air; thus the increase in Radon levels (it has no way out of a sealed up house).

    I read of one test, where the furnace combustion air was pulled from an 'air sump,' and the 'heavy' Radon gas was removed from the house by the furnace, through the chimney exhaust. Newer homes, I believe, will show higher levels, especially if the basement concrete has cracks, or the 'crawl space,' beneath the house with no vent openings.

    About the only way to not be hazarded by Radon is to live in the top of a tall tree.

    I have yet one question to ask: How does the Medical Profession calculate the extent of hazard anything presents when finding a person with Lung Cancer? If there is a chart, who made it up, and how?

    -- Posted by Navyblue on Mon, Jun 2, 2008, at 3:32 PM

  • Recent studies found several benefits from reducing entry of radon from the soil into buildings:

    The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) found that radon mitigation systems also reduce entry of water vapor from the soil. This reduces costs of humidity reduction during the air conditioning season.

    Professor Glenn Lykken and other researchers found that radon tends to become concentrated in the brain, fat tissue and bone morrow. Radon may play a part in the onset and/or progression of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, brain cancer, bone cancer, etc. For details, see: http://healthandenergy.com/radon_in_the_brain

    The EPA recommends keeping indoor air pressure equal to, or slightly greater than, air pressure in the soil. For details, see: http://healthandenergy.com/suggested_indoor_air_pressure.htm

    Let me know if I may assist you in any way.

    Jon Traudt

    -- Posted by Jon_Traudt on Tue, Jun 3, 2008, at 9:19 PM

  • If your clothes dryer is in the basement, you should get a positive benefit from the dryer pulling in air and exhausting it out of the vent. This air exhange may reduce radon levels, if present. Also, patch or fill cracks in your floor and around floor drains.

    -- Posted by Viking on Thu, Jun 5, 2008, at 12:27 PM
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