InspectAPedia ^®

Here we discuss the health risks of exposure to radon gas in air or water, and we describe the proper steps to remove radon and improve indoor air quality in homes. This article includes excerpts or adaptations from Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction, by Steven Bliss, courtesy of Wiley & Sons.

See Radon Hazards for details about radon in buildings, its health effects, how to measure radon, the effect of radon contamination on real estate values and home sales, and a guide on how to remove radon from buildings. Also see ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS - INSPECT, TEST, REMEDY for our full list of environmental hazard identification and remedy related to buildings.

© Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, Steve Bliss, Wiley & Sons, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

Effects of Radon Gas Hazards on Real Estate Values & Home Sales

The original US EPA recommendation of "further testing" for homes that measured at 4 pCi/L during a short term screening test has in our opinion led to the installation of thousands of radon mitigation systems in homes at which the average annual exposure to radon gas may have been considerably below that level.

How did this happen? In the U.S., corporations whose employees were often asked to move for business needs were provided an employee benefit: an employee relocation plan that would actually take over ownership of an employee's home if the employee could not complete the sale of their home before having to move to a new location. This benefit avoided the employee having to bear the cost of carrying two primary residences at the same time.

The employee relocation service companies who provided this home management and home resale service to their corporate clients did not want to "take over" responsibility for a home that might give a surprise expense at the time of its ultimate sale to a new owner.

Rather than waiting for the results of a long term radon test to measure the actual annual average radon exposure level, the relocation companies simply required an employee who was planning to place their home into the relocation plan to go ahead and install a radon mitigation system if the initial radon screening test showed a level of 4 pCi/L or above.

While it's not quite clear from the radon risk level table above, notice that little footnote: "based on a person's average exposure over a lifetime". A thoughtful reading of the EPA's radon risk data showed that the risk of contracting lung cancer from exposure to radon gas at a level of 4 pCi/L could not be measured as any different from random chance in the general population until the duration of the exposure time exceeded 18 hours per day for 70 years. In other words, for most people, the risk of contracting lung cancer from living in a home at 4 pCi/L is virtually nil.

Smokers are at a much higher cancer risk from radon than non-smokers (about 80 times more risk for the same exposure level as a non-smoker), and the level of risk of cancer from radon exposure increases significantly at higher radon levels.

Do Home buyers fear radon? Initially some consumers who were considering buying a home where a radon mitigation system was seen installed were frightened, thinking that the home was dangerous, regardless of the effectiveness of the radon mitigation system and regardless of the original, possibly low initial radon level that led to the installation of that system.

At a home inspection in 1996 radon was tested and later found to be present at a level of less than 1 pCi/L. The home buyer told the inspector that he intended to demand that radon level in his home be brought to zero, regardless of current best advice on the actual risk level. Expert opinion was that mitigation of a home for radon at this level was not appropriate, wasted money, and risked stigamtizing the house.

Our graph (left) plots the level of consumer fear of environmental hazards over time. As we depict in this normal curve of enviromental anxiety, for virtually all hazards, regardless of the level of actual health risk, consumer worry increases as media attention focuses on a given concern, then decreases over time as people become accustomed to the topic.

Currently the home buying public has become accustomed to radon mitigation systems and the remaining level of consumer worry is small in our opinion. However public fear about environmental hazards, once roused, never falls again to zero, regardless of the actual level of risk.

Detailed Articles about Radon: detection, correction, & prevention in buildings

Radon Hazards
  Health Effects of Radon
  Guide to Measuring Radon
  Effects of Radon on Home Sales
  How to Remove Indoor Radon

See Radon Enviro-Scare for a full discussion of the normal cycle of public fear that accompanies the discovery and publicity of various environmental hazards, including radon gas and see Enviro-Scare, the Cycle of Public Fear for our article about consumer environmental safety worry cycles that change over time.

For a Thorough Background in Radon Hazards, Radon Mitigation, & the History of Radon Concerns in the U.S. also see these articles reprinted/adapted/excerpted with permission from Solar Age Magazine - editor Steven Bliss.

• "Radon's Threat Can Be Subdued", part 1 - William Turner, Terry Brennan, Solar Age Magazine Radon and its progeny are the slipperiest pollutants in the indoor environment, but there are simple ways to keep radon and its relations at bay.
• "Radon's Threat Can Be Subdued", part 2 - what is radon, where does radon come from, how does radon get indoors, and why is radon a problem in buildings.
• "Radon's Threat Can Be Subdued", part 3 - standards for airborne radon levels in buildings and recommended levels of radon for action, how radon is best detected, and radon action plan.
• "Radon's Threat Can Be Subdued", part 4 - radon prevention advice for new construction, radon in well water - how it is removed, sources of information about radon gas and radon contamination.

• "Defeating Radon" part 1- Terry Brennan, Bill Turner, Solar Age Magazine - How does radon get into buildings, how do I know if a building has a radon gas problem, how can I solve radon problems in existing homes, and what can I do to prevent radon from entering new homes. Part 1: where Radon comes from, how to diagnose radon
• "Defeating Radon" part 2- Guide to keeping radon out of new houses - design details
• "Defeating Radon" part 3- Key spots to seal, to stop radon gas leaks into buildings
• "Defeating Radon" part 4- Data on radon levels in buildings before & after radon mitigation treatment
• "Defeating Radon" part 5- Air filtering, testing after radon mitigation, where to buy radon tests

Share this Article      

...

Technical Reviewers & References

Search InspectAPedia

• Daniel Friedman - principal author/editor of the InspectAPedia^® Website
• Steven Bliss served as editorial director and co-publisher of The Journal of Light Construction for 16 years and previously as building technology editor for Progressive Builder and Solar Age magazines. He worked in the building trades as a carpenter and design/build contractor for more than ten years and holds a masters degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Excerpts from his recent book, Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction, Wiley (November 18, 2005) ISBN-10: 0471648361, ISBN-13: 978-0471648369, appear throughout this website, with permission and courtesy of Wiley & Sons. Best Practices Guide is available from the publisher, J. Wiley & Sons, and also at Amazon.com.
• InspectAPedia Bookstore lists recommended books, organized by topic & available for purchase. Most of our articles also include a list of recommended books for the specific article topic as well as other references, and information sources.
• Critique, contributions wanted: Contact Us to suggest corrections or additions to articles at this website, and if you wish, to receive online listing and credit as a contributor. Particular thanks are due to the many experts and also consumers who read and critique technical articles at InspectAPedia.com.
• Additional technical contributors & reference sources for this article are listed below.

Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS GUIDE
AIR POLLUTANTS, COMMON INDOOR
ALLERGEN TESTS for BUILDINGS
ALLERGENS in BUILDINGS, RECOGNIZING
ALLERGY TESTS for PEOPLE
ALLERGY TEST ACCURACY
FLOODS IN BUILDINGS-priorities
FLOOD DAMAGE ASSESSMENT, SAFETY & CLEANUP
MOLD: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO MOLD
ACTION GUIDE - WHAT TO DO ABOUT INDOOR MOLD
INDOOR AIR QUALITY & HOUSE TIGHTNESS
INDOOR AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT GUIDE
  Health Effects of Air Pollutants
  Common Indoor Air Pollutants
  Key Strategies for Improving Indoor Air Quality
  Whole House Ventilation Strategies
  Exhaust-Only Ventilation
  Supply-Only Ventilation
  Balanced Ventilation
  Air Filtering Strategies
  Particles in Indoor Air - Chart
  Quick Guide to Gases
  Air-Cleaner Types
  Air Filter Effectiveness
  Real-World Effectiveness of Air Cleaners
  Finding & Reducing Air Pollutants
  Radon Hazards
    Health Effects of Radon
    Guide to Measuring Radon
    Effects of Radon on Home Sales
    How to Remove Indoor Radon
    Radon Hazard in Underground Homes
  Formaldehyde Hazards
  Biological Pollutants
  Volatile Organic Compounds VOCs
  Pesticide Exposure Hazards
  Lead Exposure Hazards
  Asbestos Exposure Hazards
  Carpeting and Indoor Air Quality
  Combustion Appliance Contaminants
  Backdrafting Appliances
  Fireplace & Woodstove Contaminants
  INDOOR AIR HAZARDS TABLE
  INDOOR COMBUSTION PRODUCTS & IAQ
INDOOR AIR QUALITY METHODS COMPARED
LEAD POISONING HAZARDS GUIDE
MOISTURE CONTROL in BUILDINGS
MOLD ACTION GUIDE - WHAT TO DO ABOUT MOLD
MOLD ATLAS & PARTICLES INDEX
MOLD BY MICROSCOPE
MOLD CLASSES, HAZARD LEVELS
MOLD CLEANUP GUIDE- HOW TO GET RID OF MOLD
MOLD DETECTION & INSPECTION GUIDE
ODORS, Smells, Gases in Buildings-Diagnosis & Cure
RENTERS & TENANTS GUIDE TO MOLD
SEWAGE BACKUP TEST & CLEANUP
STAIN DIAGNOSIS
TECHNICAL & LAB PROCEDURES
THERMAL TRACKING

• RTCA, the Radon Testing Corporation of America, is in Elmsford, NY - 800-457-2366

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Our recommended books about building design, inspection, and repair, and about indoor environment testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore.
• Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction, by Steven Bliss. John Wiley & Sons, 2006. ISBN-10: 0471648361, ISBN-13: 978-0471648369, Hardcover: 320 pages, available from Wiley.com and also at Amazon.com. See our book review of this publication.

More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

...

InspectAPedia® Home & Site Map - Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, Repair, & Problem Prevention Advice: In-depth research & advice on diagnosing, testing, correcting, & preventing building defects & indoor environmental hazards. Unbiased information, no conflicts of interest.

The Mold Information Center: What to Do About Mold in Buildings, When and How to Inspect for Mold, Clean Up Mold, or Avoid Mold Problems

Use this simple, economical mold test kit by following our instructions on how to collect and mail mold samples to our lab

Environmental Inspection, Testing, & Diagnosis On-Site IAQ, Gas, Air Testing, Mold Investigation, Sick Building Diagnosis, Lab Services, & Remediation Plan Preparation - indoor air quality testing, problem source determination, supporting lab work, written remediation plan addressing removal of environmental and other hazards and prevention of their recurrence.

Building Inspection, Problem Diagnosis, Forensic Investigation & Testing, Repair Consulting

Contact Daniel Friedman for website content suggestions or for fee-paid consulting