1
Austin Helton
Professor: Jennifer Noon
Physics 1010
27Apr11
Radon Gas
It was early April, a Tuesday, and it was cold in Northern Utah. It was supposed to be
the beginning of spring, a time when vibrant colors cover the landscapes and warm spring
temperatures fill the air. I have always associated springtime with the promise of new life. I
guess everything changes.
A forty seven year old lady sits quietly in her bedroom waiting to die. She had been
diagnosed just two months earlier with Lung Cancer associated to Radon Gas Poisoning. The
cancer had progressed to stage four by the time the doctors were able to diagnose the symptoms.
By then it was too late. Cancer had aggressively spread through her entire body. It had left a
strong and healthy woman weak and helpless, a skeleton of the person she once was. Cancer had
made its way into every bone. The disease had made everyday tasks nearly impossible.
Susan Smith (name changed) is one of an approximate twenty thousand people who will
die this year from Lung Cancer associated with Radon Gas Poisoning. She will leave a loving
husband and four children behind.
According to the Surgeon General, “Radon Poisoning is the second leading cause of
lung cancer”. It causes more deaths in the United States than fires, drowning, and airplane
crashes combined (EPA).
2
You’re probably wondering how in the world she would be exposed to Radon Gases in
the first place. The answer is a little scary. Before we get to that we should probably discuss
Radon Gas, what it is, and where it comes from.
Radon Gases comes from the natural nuclear decay of Uranium 238. This material is
very common and is found almost everywhere “there is an estimate that the top six feet of soil
from an average acre of land contains about fifty pounds of Uranium” (Lutgens & Tarbuck).
Radon has a half life of three thousand eight hundred and twenty five days. Interestingly
enough, it’s not the radioactive Radon Gas itself that is the danger. The Radon atom continues to
break down into “isotopes of polonium, lead, and bismuth” (Cohen). As we breathe, the gases
pass in and out of our lungs. It’s the heavy Isotopes that stick to the cell walls of our lungs and
continue to emit alpha particles that damage lung tissue and cause cancer.
If Radon gases are everywhere why doesn’t everyone have lung cancer? In most cases
the breakdown of radioisotopes are mixed with the surrounding air and are diluted into the
environment. It is when you have a buildup of these isotopes that the problem occurs. Our
homes are the most common place for the build-up of the harmful gases. Radon is an invisible
gas, it is odorless, and no taste. Most people don’t even realize their home has a problem.
(“Radon Seal”)
Radon enters the home in several different ways. It can enter through cracks in the
foundation, floor drains, plumbing pipes, and even the water supply. Your house creates enough
low pressure to attract the radon gases from the surrounding soil. Once the radon enters the home
it becomes trapped in the basements and crawl spaces raising the levels of the radon gases.
3
There are a few different testing methods to test Radon levels in your home. The Short
term tests are not as accurate but if need fast results this would be the way to go. I picked up two
of them from the Utah Radon Hotline. They arrived a couple days after I ordered them. The
tests are charcoal canisters that absorb Radon and its decay products from the air. After forty
eight hours you seal the test and send it back to a laboratory. At the laboratory a scintillation
fluid is added to the charcoal and sent through a electron counter that detects the particles emited
by the radon. Long term tests are much more accurate but take a little longer. The Alpha track
and electric ion charger are both continuous monitoring systems that usually test for around
ninety days. Alpha tract detectors use a foil as a detection device. As the radon decays within the
Alpha tract it emits high energy alpha particles that “strike the detector foil” and then make
“microscopic tracts on its surface”. The tracts are counted to determine the levels of radon
emissions. The Electric Ion detectors use a voltage drop to calibrate the amount of radiation in
the atmosphere. (“Whittemore”)
Radon Risk If You Smoke
Radon
If 1,000 people who smoked were
The risk of cancer from radon
WHAT TO DO:
Level
exposed to this level over a lifetime*...
exposure compares to**...
Stop smoking and...
20 pCi/L About 260 people could get lung cancer 250 times the risk of drowning Fix your home
10 pCi/L About 150 people could get lung cancer
8 pCi/L About 120 people could get lung cancer
4 pCi/L About 62 people could get lung cancer
2 pCi/L About 32 people could get lung cancer
1.3
pCi/L
0.4
pCi/L
About 20 people could get lung cancer
200 times the risk of dying in a
home fire
30 times the risk of dying in a
fall
5 times the risk of dying in a
car crash
Fix your home
Fix your home
Fix your home
6 times the risk of dying from
Consider fixing
poison
between 2 and 4 pCi/L
(Average indoor radon level)
(Reducing radon
levels below 2 pCi/L is
About 3 people could get lung cancer
(Average outdoor radon level)
difficult.)
Note: If you are a former smoker, your risk may be lower.
There is no safe level of radon. However, there are ways to significantly reduce the levels
in your home. You can have the cracks and separations in your foundation sealed, faulty pipes
fixed, and other repairs done to your house. There is also a relatively inexpensive way to reduce
the radon using an, “soil suction radon reduction system”. This is a fan that is placed under the
house at soil level (or in a crawl space). The fan draws the radon into a vent tube using suction.
The radon is vented above the house via a chimney.
4
Annotated Bibliography
Lutgens, Frederick K. and Tarbuck, Edward J., Essentials of Geology, 7th Ed., Prentice Hall, 2000.
Cohen, . "What is radon? And why are they saying all those bad things about it?." Radiation in your own
home?. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr 2011. <http://hyperphysics.phyastr.gsu.edu/hbase/nuclear/radon.html#c2>.
"How Radon Causes Lung Cancer." RadonSeal. radonseal, 2001. Web. 28 Apr 2011.
<http://www.radonseal.com/radon -health.htm>.
Whittemore, Frank. "How Do Radon Detectors Work?." livestrong.com. Demand Media,
05/07/2010. Web. 28 Apr 2011. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/118637 -radondetectors-work/>.