radiation
Want to protect your family from radiation?
Take the
radon test! As parents, we are continually taking precautions to ensure our children are protected from all kinds of obvious dangers, so why not protect them against radiation? We all have the lung cancer causing radioactive gas radon in our homes, so if you haven’t taken the radon test yet, do it now!
How do I take the radon test? Testing for radon is really easy and only costs about €50. A number of companies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), provide a radon testing service. You will be posted a testing kit which includes two small detectors. Simply put one in your living area and one in a bedroom. Post them back aſter three months to find out how much radon is in your home.
What is radon? Radon gas comes from rocks and soils and can get into your home through small cracks and crevices in walls or gaps around pipes leading into the home. It is a radioactive gas and has no taste, colour or smell. Te World Health Organisation has classed radon as a carcinogen in the same group as asbestos and tobacco smoke; this means that it is proven to cause cancer in humans. In fact, we know it is linked to up to 250 cases of lung cancer every year in Ireland and smokers are at particular risk from the combined effects of radon and tobacco smoke.
54MODERNMUM What level of radon is acceptable
in my home? Te government has set the acceptable or reference level of radon at 200 units (radon is measured in Becquerels per cubic Metre or Bq.m-3). If the radon levels in your home are above this reference level the EPA recommend that you reduce the levels.
What can I do if radon levels are
found to be high in my home? Don’t panic! It’s easy to reduce high levels of radon in your home if you need to. Te most effective way of reducing radon in your home is to install what is known as an active radon sump. A sump can be installed in less than one day and costs about €900 – well worth investing in to protect your family from this silent killer. Te EPA can provide you with a list of companies who can do this work for you. Be sure to do a follow up test aſterwards so you can be sure that radon levels have been reduced to below the acceptable level of 200 Bq.m-3. Te EPA will post you a free follow up test when you have completed the work.
Are some parts of the country
more at risk than others? Some parts of the country are more likely to have a radon problem than others. Tese parts of the country are called High Radon Areas. You can check the interactive map on the website
www.radon.ie to see whether your home is in a High Radon Area. Even if your home is not in a High Radon Area, the EPA recommends that you test your home as high radon levels are found in all parts of the country.
Do it today! We have a natural tendency to play down the importance of a health risk from something that is invisible, natural or unfamiliar; radon is all of these, but the risks associated with radon are high. Don’t ignore radon. Give yourself and your family peace of mind and take the radon test today. For more information and resources you
can log onto
www.radon.ie or you can call the Environmental Protection Agency on 1800 300 600 or email us at
radon@epa.ie
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