The radon risk in Iowa

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants Americans to take radon gas more seriously. The EPA wants you to know how dangerous this stuff can be and how common it is.

Iowans should take notice and consider action in their homes. Our state has the nation's largest concentration of radon gas.

All 99 counties are rated in Zone 1 on the EPA radon map (see www.epa.gov/radon/pdfs/zonemapcolor.pdf). That means the average indoor level of radon gas is at least 4 pci/L (picocuries per liter) - the level at which there's an elevated health risk.

Lung cancer is most often associated with smoking, the leading cause of that nasty disease. But radon ranks as the second leading cause of lung cancer and is linked to about 21,000 U.S. deaths annually - including about 400 in Iowa. It's also the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers.

The Iowa Department of Public Health estimates that as many as 70 percent of homes across Iowa have elevated radon levels, although it can vary considerably from house to house in the same neighborhood.

Various studies show that people living at least five years in a home with an elevated level of radon gas increase their risk of lung cancer by 10 percent or more - and the longer you live there, the higher the risk.

Radon gas is caused by the decay of uranium and radium deposits left in the soil by the glaciers about 15,000 years ago. It seeps into buildings and is odorless and colorless.

To detect radon gas, you need to test for it. Many local health departments as well as department and other retail stores offer radon test kits for under $10.

It's the mitigation step where the costs climb sharply. Most times, it involves ventilating the radon outside to get the level below 4 pci/L. Depending on the type of home and other conditions, that can run you more than $1,000.

Yet if your home has a high level of radon gas seepage, the cost may be well worth it. In any case, testing your home makes sense. Ignorance doesn't do much for reducing risk.

For more information and lists of certified mitigation specialists compiled by the Iowa Department of Public Health, visit www.idph.state.ia.us/eh/radon.asp.

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