Word: radon
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...environmental-safety manager for the Illinois department of nuclear safety, suggested that the EPA had acted rashly. Like the uranium-rich rock formation stretching across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York called the Reading Prong, he contended, geological deposits in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the Midwest cause pockets of radon with high readings in very small areas, and these misleadingly boost a state's average. Said Cooper: "It's not imperative that people go out and monitor their homes right now, and the EPA should have made that clear...
Cooper also questioned the estimate of as many as 20,000 lung-cancer deaths a year. "You could say zero to 20,000 and be more accurate," he said. "Their numbers are shaky." Indiana's radon-program coordinator, David Nauth, agreed. "They make these comparisons with cigarette smoking and chest X rays," he said, "and people don't understand that they're talking about prolonged annual exposure at high rates." In fact, the EPA itself concedes that if 100 people spent 75% of their time for 70 years in homes with a reading of 4 picocuries of radon, no more...
That by no means lessens the seriousness of the threat, especially at high levels. In addition, medical experts say, tobacco smoke increases the risk by attracting radon particles, allowing them to lodge easily in the lungs. Even if the number of radon cancer deaths is 5,000, says the EPA, the gas is still "among the worst health risks in this country...
Homeowners can take a number of steps to fight indoor radon pollution. For starters, the EPA's two booklets, A Citizen's Guide to Radon and Radon Reduction Methods, are available from area health offices, which will also provide the names of reputable companies that do radon testing. Cheap ($10) home kits will measure the gas, as will more expensive continuous electronic monitors. To counter the problem, cracks in the basement can be sealed and ventilation systems installed. Such measures ought to be taken within a few years, the EPA advises, if the radon readings are between...
DESCRIPTION: States with greatest percentage of houses with radon levels in excess of 4 picocuries per liter...