by Margaret Henderson
The Kansas Radon Program has recently published information about Kansas radon measurement and mitigation trends in its January 2016 newsletter. Trends show that from July 2010 to June 2015, there has been an increase in overall testing. Additionally, an increasing percentage of the tests are being performed by certified contractors.
The newletter discusses performance during 2014 and 2015 specifically. For 2015,
total reported radon tests (period July 2014-June 2015) were 18,722. For the same period, total mitigations reported numbered 3924, or roughly 11%. However, only about 32% of homes were tested during the sale, leaving 68% of homes sold without radon testing.
Statistically, the expectation is that approximately 1 in 3 or 33% of those houses sold would have elevated levels (exceeding 4pCi/L, the EPA recommended action level). Of the homes not tested for radon, which sold, likely 7338 of them would have tested high, had they been tested. Of those that were tested, 34% tested high (and mitigations were preformed). This adds confirmation to the estimate of the untested homes in which radon concentrations likely exceed the action level.
In addition to improvements that could come from testing more homes during sales, the report on trends also notes that there is large potential to reduce radon exposure if more communities adopted Radon Resistant New Construction codes into building codes. Currently, Junction City, Lawrence, Manhattan, Salina and Topeka have RRNC codes in place.
For more information about radon in Kansas, contact:
radon@kdheks.gov
Kansas Department of Health and Environment: Radon Page
http://www.kdheks.gov/radiation/radon.htm
Kansas Radon Program
http://www.kansasradonprogram.org/home
Source: Kansas Radon Program Newsletter, January 2016
United States