Radon Readings: No Need To Panic Studies Show Danger Relatively Low

That invisible cancer-causing gas called radon, seething in the soils of Spokane and North Idaho, sent an unprecedented 400 people to the Spokane County Health District last week for information.

The rush came after a state report found Spokane County has Washington’s highest levels of radon, which is blamed for more lung cancer deaths than anything other than cigarette smoke. Radon in North Idaho may be just as high.

Is death brewing in our basements?

“If you’re smoking cigarettes, quit that first. It’s much more of a risk. If you are not wearing seat belts, your risk of dying is much greater than radon poses,” says Mike LaScuola, environmental health specialist for the Spokane County Health District.

“But if people are planning on a good, happy retirement riding around in an RV, you should keep radon in mind.”

What LaScuola means is that radon is nothing to dismiss, but nothing about which to become hysterical. He suggests being as concerned about reducing exposure to radon as about eating less fat and getting enough exercise.

“It’s a wellness issue,” he says. “If you oversensationalize these issues, you create more of a health hazard. I would hate to think if anyone had a high radon level they would develop ulcers. People panic and lose sleep. God forbid someone should have a coronary over radon.”

Radon is an odorless, colorless gas created by the natural decay of radium and uranium found in rocks and soil.

Radon breaks down into harmful elements that attach to dust or smoke particles and can enter the lungs.

As the elements quickly continue their decay, their alpha radiation rams the cells, causing damage possibly leading to cancer.

The problem may be worse in the Spokane area, LaScuola says, because Mount Spokane once was loaded with uranium, which was distributed throughout the area by glacial outwash.

The gas is easily carried through the region’s porous soil.

New information released last week showed northeastern Washington residents receive 4.7 times as much overall radiation as the national average.

Nearly 90 percent of that comes from radon gas.

The state Health Department report found that 60 percent of the houses in Spokane County have 4 or more picocuries of radon gas per liter of air.

That’s the level at which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggests corrective action should be taken.

Another study by the Spokane County Health District showed the average radon level in Spokane was 10.6 picocuries.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reported that tests in Kootenai County showed an average radon level of 8.7 picocuries. Coeur d’Alene averaged 8.9 and Post Falls, 16.9.

But put that in perspective, the researchers say. Cigarette smoking causes 85 percent of all lung cancer.

Radon earns second place because it leads to 10 percent of lung cancer cases.

In the general population, one out of 1,000 people will develop lung cancer. After a lifetime exposure to 4 picocuries of radon - the level at which the EPA says it should be corrected - the agency estimates that two persons out of 1,000 will develop lung cancer. That’s equal to the risk of drowning. At a radon exposure five times higher than the EPA action level 20 picocuries - a person stands the same chance of developing lung cancer as they do dying in a violent crime.

Despite the warnings about radon issued by the EPA over the last decade, national figures show only 9 percent of U.S. households have had their homes tested for the gas.

“People can’t see it or smell it or taste it, so maybe they think it’s another farce by the EPA,” says Kara Stevens, radon specialist with Health and Welfare in Idaho.

In Washington state, all new construction since 1992 has been required to include radon mitigation devices which suck the gas out of the home.

The cost of fitting an older home with such a device runs $500 to $3,500, LaScuola says.

In most of Idaho, builders are not required to install such devices. A few cities and counties have requirements.

Despite the elevated levels of radon in the Northwest, researchers say less industrial pollution and healthier lifestyles may offset some of the risk.

Washington’s lung cancer death rate of 37.9 per 100,000 people is less than the national rate of 39.6 deaths per 100,000. In Idaho, the rate is 27.1 per 100,000.

“People ask about radon, `Where are the bodies?’ We’ve already buried them,” said Geoffrey Hughes, Washington Department of Health radiation policy analyst.

“I know people in my own family who died from lung cancer. Was it radon? I don’t know. But if I lived in Spokane County, I’d want to have my radon level tested and do what I could to minimize it.”

Staff writer Craig Welch contributed to this story.