House radon level ‘is like getting 18 X-rays a day’

A Kerry home tested for exposure to cancer-causing radon gas found its occupants were receiving the equivalent radiation dose of approximately 18 chest X-rays per day or 6,500 per year.

The Tralee household, which had 26 times the acceptable level of radon, was among the one in seven homes identified with high levels of radon out of more than 3,000 tested in the past year, according to figures from the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII).

However, the RPII estimates there are 91,000 homes with high levels of radon, of which less than 8,000 have been identified. On this basis, the institute is urging householders to get their homes tested.

“The fact is that every second day someone dies from radon-induced lung cancer. People need to take the radon test to make sure they are not being exposed to this cancer causing gas in their home,” said Ann McGarry, RPII chief executive.

Of the 434 homes identified with high levels of radon, five in Kerry, three in Galway and one each in Clare and Wexford were identified with radon levels in excess of 10 times the acceptable level. Occupants in these homes received an equivalent radiation dose of more than 2,500 chest X-rays per year.

A further 39 homes had radon levels between four and 10 times the acceptable level and were located in Galway (15), Wexford (six), Kerry and Sligo (four each), Cork and Wicklow (two), and Clare, Limerick, Louth, Mayo, Tipperary and Waterford, one each. The remaining 384 homes had radon levels up to four times the acceptable level and were found in high radon areas throughout the country.

Radon is identified as the second-biggest cause of lung cancer after smoking and is directly linked to more than 200 lung cancer deaths in Ireland each year.

A spokesman for the institute said radon gas was “a particular problem in North Kerry”.

The presence of radon was essentially “an accident of geology” he said, influenced by the underlying soil and rock.

“Where there is fissured limestone, radon can seep up through the ground in high levels,” he said.

Since 1998, building regulations require that builders install a sump, essentially a hollow in the ground under the house with a pipe running to the outside. Once radon is in the open air, it is naturally diluted.

According to the RPII measuring for radon and carrying out remedial works in the event of a high reading, are easy to do. The RPII and a number of private companies provide a radon measurement service at a cost of about €50.

* An interactive map is available on the www.rpii.ie where users can see if they live in a high radon area. Information can also be obtained by phoning Freefone 1800 300600.