M.V. Homeowners Urged To Test Homes For Radon

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa Valley Progress

There may be a silent health risk lurking in many Moapa Valley homes that homeowners don’t even know about. At least, that is the message that University of Nevada Cooperative Extension (UNCE) educators are trying to send out this month.

Certain areas of Moapa Valley have been found to have unusually high levels of the radioactive gas, radon, according to Nadia Noel, Radon Education Coordinator for UNCE.

“Across the state of Nevada, one in four homes tested showed radon concentrations at or above the EPA action level,” Noel said in a presentation given to the Moapa Valley Rotary Club on Wednesday, January 30. “But in Moapa and Logandale, the potential is much higher, at around 37 percent.”

Radon is a naturally occurring, radioactive gas that is colorless, odorless and tasteless. It comes naturally from radioactive materials in the ground. People are exposed to it all the time in small concentrations in the outdoors. But when it seeps into homes, it can accumulate to more concentrated levels.

Radon enters buildings primarily from the soil underneath the structure’s foundation. Homes with a crawl space are particularly at risk. But radon can seep through cracks in the foundation, sump pumps in basements and other areas.

Living in homes with high levels of radon can raise the risk of lung cancer, Noel said. According to experts, living in a home with radon concentrations at the action level poses a risk similar to that posed by smoking about half a pack of cigarettes a day, she added.

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 21,000 Americans die each year from radon-causing lung cancer,” Noel said. “That is more deaths than are caused by second hand smoke, drunk driving or house fires.”

The biggest problem is that it is impossible to predict if a home will have high radon levels or not. “There are just so many variables in how the home is constructed, and where it is situated, and so on, that you really can’t predict it,” Noel said. “In a neighborhood, you might have one home that has a problem, and right next door there is no problem at all.”

The only way to know for sure is to perform a radon test, Noel explained. Radon test kits are widely available and can be used to gauge the radon accumulation in a home. The test kit is a small tray of black carbon material. The test kit must be placed in the home for a period of 48 hours to take a reading. Then it can be sent to a lab for processing. Results are sent back to the property owner for review.

During the month of February, the UNCE is offering free radon test kits to Nevadans. Locally, those kits are available at the Cooperative Extension Office at 1897 N. Moapa Valley Blvd. Recipients of the kits are asked to simply fill out a brief registration form and are then given detailed instructions on how to perform the test.

And what if the test results come back showing high radon levels in your home? Noel’s first piece of advice in that case is, Don’t panic!
“There is no need to evacuate or abandon your home or anything,” she said. “The health effects are accumulative only over long periods of exposure. So it’s nothing to panic about. But you probably will want to take some action. If you have elevated radon levels in your house, it can be fixed.”

A licensed and certified radon contractor can be called in to mitigate these types of problems. These experts can install systems that prevent radon from entering the home. These involve drilling into the foundation, installing a pipe with an exhaust fan which will draw the gas from the foundation, up and out the top of the home.
“Of course, there is a cost involved to install these systems,” Noel said. “But it may not be as expensive as you might think.”

Cost for mitigation systems vary based on the home’s construction and square footage. But it usually ranges between $1,800 and $3,800 fully installed, Noel said.
For more information on obtaining a free radon test kit, local homeowners can call the Logandale Cooperative Extension office at 702-397-2604.

More detailed information about radon is available at the Nevada Radon Education Program website at www.radonnv.com.

The Nevada Radon Education Program is a program of University of Nevada Cooperative Extension and is funded by a grant from the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health. Since the program began in 2007, more than 28,000 homes have been tested in Nevada.