Warning to check for radon levels

OWNERS of a house who didn’t know they were in a radon zone were being exposed to radiation equivalent to having seven chest X-rays every day.

The unwitting occupants, whose home had 10 times the safe level of radon, only discovered the potentially- deadly problem when they signed up for their home to be tested by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland late last year.

The house is in Co Waterford where the institute ran a radon awareness campaign last October out of concern that the county had one of the highest incidents of radon-affected homes in the country.

More than 500 houseowners took up the test offer in recent months and one in six have been found to have unacceptable levels of the radioactive gas which can cause lung cancer and is linked to 200 deaths in Ireland each year.

The gas, which occurs naturally in rock and soil, can seep into houses through their foundations, but proper sealing and sumps can prevent it from getting inside.

In Waterford, high radon levels have been found repeatedly in areas including Butlerstown, Carrick- on-Suir, Dungarvan, Dunhill, Fenor, Kilmacow, Kilmacthomas, Kilmeaden, Tramore as well as much of Waterford city.

The RPII said it was concerned it was only getting to test a fraction of the 38,000 homes across the county.

Stephanie Long, senior scientist at the RPII, said: “Many families in Waterford remain completely unaware that they may be exposed to high levels of this radioactive gas which is linked to lung cancer. People need to take the radon test.”

Radon test kits are available from the RPII and other suppliers, at a cost of about €50, and owners can do the test themselves. The RPII has mapped known high radon areas across the country and posted details on its website, www.rpii.ie, to encourage householders in radon hot-spots to get their homes tested.