Ask TreeHugger: What Do Radon Tests Mean?
by Helen Suh MacIntosh, Cambridge, MA, USA 
on 02.20.07
Question: I am selling my house and in this process, my house was tested for radon using a mail-in kit. The buyers got the radon results back and they show that my house is just below the EPA recommended limit. The buyers want me to install equipment to reduce radon in my home. I don't think that this is is necessary, because my radon levels were just below the limit. If radon levels are below the EPA limit, doesn't that mean that my radon levels are fine?
Response: Radon is a naturally occurring gas that has been shown in research studies to cause lung cancer. People are exposed to radon primarily in their homes, as that is where people spend the majority of their time and that is where radon levels (in every day life) tend to be highest.
EPA recommends that people take steps to reduce radon levels in their home when levels are at or above 4 pCi/L. Since exposures to radon at even lower levels carry some risk of lung cancer, EPA recommends that people think about lowering their home's radon levels to even lower levels, or to 2 pCi/L. Lowering radon levels will be particularly important for areas where people spend time.
To know how your home fits within the EPA guidelines, you need to know the average radon levels in your home over a long time period, as EPA developed these guidelines based on life time exposures to radon. Since your radon levels were measured using a mail-in kit, my guess is that your radon test was performed over a couple of days. Your test results near the 4 pCi/L action level indicate that it is possible for your home to have long-term average radon levels that need remediation (or lowering).
Since your test results were just under the action level, however, it is not clear that you need to remediate. Radon levels vary over time -- for example higher indoor radon levels are generally found in winter. As a result, it is possible that long-term radon concentrations are lower than measured. To check, you can retest your home for radon, making sure to place the radon kit in the same place as before (usually the basement or first floor is recommended). You could estimate the long-term average radon level as the average of the two test results. It's far from perfect, but retesting will give you more information to decide what to do. If the second test result is much greater than the 4 pCi/L action level, for example, I would assume my radon levels were too high. If the retesting results were much lower, then I would assume that my radon levels were within the recommended levels. If the test results are again close to 4 pCi/L, then the decision is harder.
Alternatively or in addition, you could just propose a radon mitigation or reduction solution that you have installed or provide funds to cover the costs for installation. This might be the easiest and quickest way to reach a suitable resolution with the prospective buyers of your home. Some radon reduction fixes are relatively easy and inexpensive to do, while others are more labor-intensive and costly. EPA estimates that radon remediation ranges between $800-$2500.
EPA has a good website about radon for home buyers and seller (http://www.epa.gov/radon/realestate.html). This site contains pretty user-friendly information about radon, its health risks, measurement, and remedies. On this website, EPA mentions their video "Breathing Easy: What Home Buyers and Sellers Should Know About Radon", which you may find helpful. To get a free copy of this video, you can call 1-800-438-4318 and ask for video number EPA 402-V-02-003.
Previous Ask Treehugger columns can be found here.
Helen Suh MacIntosh is a professor in environmental health at Harvard University and sudies how pollution behaves in the environment and how it affects people's health. Please keep in mind that her answers are just her interpretation of available information and should not be taken as the only viewpoint or solution to a problem. Use this column at your own risk. Having said this, please feel free to post any of your environmental health questions to
AskTreeHugger [[@]] TreeHugger [[.]] com (please use a descriptive email subject line and mention if you want to remain anonymous or not).
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Reduce Your Carbon Footprint by Half in Three Steps
- Go Green: Share Your Home with Extended Family
- How to Repair a Chip or Star Crack in Your Automotive Windshield
- Zero Waste—The Newest Eco-Fashion Innovation?
- Eat a Vegetarian Diet, Reduce Your Carbon Footprint by a Ton
- 5 Easy Steps to A Well-Insulated House
THere is an energy waste issue when active ventilation systems are needlessly mandated by local zoning code. Fans and heat exchangers made to run for years when the threshold level was barely exceeded in a single test. I am wondering what the climate forcing impact of thousands of similar situatons is???
I measured my home's levels every two months for a year and all results were below the 4 threshold. My immediate neighbor, whose home was built at same time out of same blueprint on same soil association, recently put on an addition and was forced by building code to add an active ventilation system for the entire home if he wanted the building permit. If it were me I'd disconnect it or just run it in the winter.
I've never heard of this radon issue before but I think it should be treated as any other fault that the buyer thinks needs fixing.
I just bought a house. It needs some work (painting, replastering, etc.) before I move in but I'm not going to ask that the vendor do/pay for the work.
The best the buyer can do is use the radon issue as a negotiating tool, ie. it will cost them $X to remedy so they could ask you (very nicely, of course) to reduce your asking price by $X.
Because Radon is a health hazard, it is treated more like asbestos in the sale of houses. People are willing to buy a house than needs work. Fewer people are willing to move into a house which poses a heath hazard to themselves and their family.
I am on the opposite end, just purchasing a house and I also had it tested for radon. I was very happy with my well informed home inspector and my separate radon tester. And they told me that the Laws for Radon detection in the US were highly influenced by the industries which make money off of venting radon from the home and detecting radon in the home. So in the US the acceptable levels for radon are set very low, in there professional opinion too low.
Canada first discovered and studied radon and have been monitoring it and have had laws limiting in radon in the home much longer then the US and their acceptable radon levels are much higher.
I would also retest the radon with a more professional setup then some mail in test. Also the prices listed for the radon venting are fairly high if you are not on one of the coasts. The rage I was given for Michigan venting was well under $1000 or under.
Strange, as I just watched a program on Discovery channel on the RADON Mines used to treat various diseases, including arthritis.
These are caves that expose you to EXTREEMLY high doses of Radon for the purpose of healing.
Where are the statistics gathered, and when?
Just a side note, I believe that Radon isn't very hazardous unless you're a smoker, in which case there's certainly a synergistic effect. The fresh coat of paint on your house will probably kill you faster than the dose of radon in your basement, barring that you smoke or have exceptionally high radon levels.
The EPA disagrees Karl http://www.epa.gov/radon/
Put it this way how can radiation be good for you? Even too much sun is bad.
First, radon is a very serious health hazard claiming over 20,000 lives a year, and is also the leading cause of lung cancer among NON-Smokers. Active systems with fans use very little power, and most areas with radon building requirement don't require installing a fan until after the house is tested. To the poster that mentioned Canada, actually the Canadian government just lowered their action level to be on par with ours.
But don't take my word for it. The EPA, the Surgeon General, and the World Health Organization all recommend that every home be tested for radon.