Here is the straight truth about Radon. The first in a series of what home owners and home buyers need to know, but don't.

No doubt if you have went to buy or sell a home, at some point the question of whether or not to have a Radon test done has come up. Below are some very interesting facts concerning Radon that the general public has probably never heard before. All information obtained came directly from EPA publications.

The EPA's 4 picocuries/cubic liter threshold is arbitrary. There have never been tests of the effects of varying amounts of radon in a residential home setting. The only tests to date have come from mine shafts in Pennsylvania where miners developed cancers, and where radon was among 25 or so radioactive elements present. The results of these findings were somehow extrapolated to homes. In other words, there has never been a single verifiable case where Radon in a residential home was linked to Cancer. Even the EPA has admitted it.

From a 1994 EPA report: "Facts Concerning Environmental Radon"

"To date the EPA has had little success in stimulating home owners to measure levels in their homes which would be the first step in the process of deciding on a course of action if a high radon level is found. This is partly because it is difficult to get people concerned that their home, a place that one looks to for security, is a potential source of hidden danger. Also, it has not yet been possible to generate convincing data on increased risk at or below 4-8 pCi/liter"

In the EPA's own words there has been no evidence of increased risk in the 4-8 range. Yet the EPA recommends remediation on any reading above 4pCi. In short, Radon mitagators charge homeowners $800 to $2000 setting up vent systems in their home for this number that appears to have been pulled out of thin air.

Finally, two most widespread claims about radon all come from one source, the EPA:

1) Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States.
2) 21,000 people die of lung cancer each year due to radon.

The concern here is that these two statements, long considered gospel, fail to separate smokers' vs. non smokers. Furthermore, the numbers used are on the high end of the actual findings which said 3,000 to 32,000. Therefore in my opinion it is impossible to make either claim above. There is absolutely no way to tell whether Radon or smoking caused cancer in the above claims.

Below is the sole source for these two claims which have been repeated thousands of times, so much, in fact, that they are considered gospel in the Real Estate industry. It is directly taken from the public summary of the EPA report, "Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation".

Note: "ever smokers" is defined as anyone who is smoking or has ever smoked.

"The BEIR VI committee's preferred central estimates are that about 1 in 10 of all lung cancer deaths amounting to 15,400 to 21,800 per year in the United States can be attributed to radon among ever-smokers and never-smokers together. The number of radon related lung cancer deaths resulting from (our analysis) could be as low as 3000 or as high as 32,000. Most of the radon-related lung cancers occur among ever-smokers, and because of the synergism between smoking and radon, many of the cancers in ever-smokers could be prevented by either tobacco control or reduction of radon exposure."

So...."15,400 to 21,800 per year in the United States can be attributed to Radon among ever-smokers and never-smokers together". So how could they possibly conclude that "21,000 people die in America from Radon each year?

Furthermore, if Radon truly was the second leading cause of Cancer in the United States, why then are there no public service announcements on television, radio, billboards, local news etc. like there is for smoking cigarettes? The ONLY time you ever hear about Radon is during the home buying process. There is nothing outside the realm of Real Estate that alerts the public to this "so called" danger.

Is Radon real? Absolutely. Does it pose a potential hazard to you or your family? You decide.