The following information was compiled following a recent interview with Angela Minden, Health Physicist, and Bernie Bevill, Section Chief, Arkansas Department of Health Radiation Control Section.
Arkansas is fortunate in that it does not have much of an issue with excess radon in homes. What’s more, Arkansas is an upstanding example of a state that continues to offer good public health services related to radon testing and mitigation where it is warranted. Arkansas’s state radon program regularly responds to telephone inquiries regarding radon. It also provides useful public information about radon on its website, including an interesting discussion of the geology of Arkansas and the potential for radon to infiltrate buildings: Findings featured in this article are supported by survey results.
In the 1990s, a public health survey of 1,535 homes in Arkansas demonstrated that the average radon concentration in homes tested was 1.2pCi/l, and that only 5.3% of homes tested had radon levels greater than 4pCi/l present, which is the EPA action level. The EPA website features an Arkansas Radon Zone (http://www.epa.gov/radon/states/arkansas.html) that illustrates Arkansas’s low to moderate potential for radon levels in excess of the 4pCi/l. If a radon-related issue does arise in Arkansas, it often quickly becomes a pressing one; typically, a real estate closing on the purchase of a home occurs and mitigation is required. Because there are few radon problems in Arkansas, mitigators in the neighboring state of Missouri are often called upon to help in these situations. Arkansas does not certify, license or register individuals to perform testing or mitigation. Instead, its public health services focus on "good customer service in answering inquiries and providing fact sheets and contact information" says Bernie Bevill, who directs inquiries to the State of Arkansas contact, Angela Minden. Arkansas has developed a factsheet that is used to streamline answers to public inquiries about radon. The factsheet can be viewed here.
In 2013, the Arkansas State Radon program answered 38 calls and e-mailed information in response to these calls. That same year, 20 other callers discovered they could find all the information they needed on-line but needed answers to a few questions or direction to other sources that the program could give them. So far in 2014, a dozen calls have been received. Although the program does not receive a large number of annual inquiries, Arkansas continues to provide robust public health services to those few citizens who do have concerns about radon.
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