RADON ROULETTE - The Washington Post

Nine alert Indiana residents last year helped put a stop to what

government officials said was a radon scam.

A company called Retrotec USA Inc. offered to pay them $20 to attend

a seminar on radon, according to a complaint filed by the Indiana State

Attorney General's Office. Then the company agreed to test their homes

for the gas at no cost.

But then, according to the complaint, Retrotec employees

"intentionally elevated the radon levels found in the homes" by placing

test canisters down sump pumps and in other locations that would inflate

the readings.

The company employees also conducted follow-up tests that they "knew

could neither confirm nor deny the presence of radon" gas, according to

court papers.The company allegedly told one of the homeowners that

exposure to their supposedly high levels of radon gas would cause them

"to glow."

The solution, Retrotec employees advised, was to make repairs of

$1,000 to $8,500 -- repairs offered by the company itself.

The attorney general's office sued Retrotec, alleging that the firm

committed "deceptive acts" and attempted to defraud or mislead the

consumers.

The case was settled with a consent decree, in which the company

denied all wrongdoing and liability.

In the decree, Retrotec agreed that it would not incite

"unjustified fear" in consumers' minds about radon and would not sell

repair work unless a different firm had performed the radon test.

The firm paid $1,500 to the attorney general's office for

investigating the matter. Since then, Retrotec has stopped doing

business in Indiana but continues to operate in Canada.

In an interview yesterday, Richard Jordan, former vice president of

Retrotec, said the firm signed the consent decree only because legal

defense was too expensive and that the state had unfairly solicited

complaints against Retrotec. State officials denied that allegation.

Whether more will come of the Indiana case remains to be seen. But in

the wake of the Environmental Protection Agency's new recommendation

that most Americans screen their homes for radon, there is concern that

citizens across the country could fall prey to unscrupulous companies

ready to take advantage of radon hysteria.

Radon is an invisible, odorless gas that forms when natural uranium

in rocks and in the soil decays. Outdoors, radon poses no risk. But when

the gas accumulates indoors, it poses significant risk to consumers.

Radon is measured in picocuries per liter of air. Levels are highest

in winter, when doors and windows are closed, so an annual average is

necessary to judge exposure levels.

If the average radon level in a house over a year's time is 4

picocuries per liter of air -- the EPA's acceptable threshold -- people

in the house have an increased cancer risk equivalent to that caused by

smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day.

Radon is thought to be responsible for an estimated 15 percent of

lung cancer deaths -- about 20,000 deaths -- in the United States each

year. Cigarette smoking is still, however, the leading cause of lung

cancer, and the combined effects of radon and cigarette smoke are

especially damaging.

In the wake of the new recommendations to screen most American homes

for radon, EPA officials warned consumers to be careful of the companies

they turn to for testing.

"Be on guard for someone who comes in with a mayonnaise jar or a

light meter," says Steve Page, chief for policy and public information

at EPA's radon program. Also be wary of firms that promise results after

a five-minute sample; a real radon test takes at least a few days and

usually longer.

Consumers who have doubts about a company or its method of testing

are advised to call the EPA's regional office or check with the state

health department. Both agencies are keeping lists of some 700 companies

nationwide that have passed EPA proficiency exams for testing radon.

State health departments -- and state attorneys general -- keep lists

as well of fraudulent radon-testing companies and of firms that conduct

unsatisfactory home repairs for radon. Do You Need to Test Your Home?

Although the EPA on Sept. 12 called for the screening of most

American homes, some experts think that recommendation is too strong.

"Why get the public all up in arms about something that has very

little chance of affecting them?" asks Dr. Anthony Nero, senior

scientist in the Indoor Environment Program at the University of

California's Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. "In California, for example,

only one in 100 houses exceeds the EPA levels. The same thing applies to

many other areas."

Critics argue that the EPA's survey, which found that one in three

American homes has elevated radon levels, is based on a sample of

one-time screening tests that provide a much less reliable picture of

actual radon levels than do long-term measurements.

"The EPA is badly misinterpreting and misrepresenting their own data

on the number of houses that have a radon problem," Nero says. "It's

leading them to the broad conclusion that everyone should have their

houses checked. In reality, it appears that based on all the data that

only 6 percent to 7 percent of American homes -- or one in 15 houses,

not one in three houses -- has elevated levels of radon." Methods of

In the Washington area, however, more homes may be at risk than the

national average, which is why Richard Guimond, director of the EPA's

Office of Radiation, urges most people in the Capitol region to have

their homes tested. Exceptions are those who live above the third

floor in an apartment building. Houses built on stilts and trailers

with no closed skirt have little chance of radon contamination.

But if your home has a basement, if it's built into the side of a

hill, if it's a highly energy efficient (and airtight) house or if you

have some dirt crawl spaces beneath or alongside your house, then you

might want to consider having your home tested for radon.

"Houses that have some contact with the soil, such as sump pumps,

cracks in the floor or the wall, have an entry point for radon," says

EPA's Page. Weatherizing your home, new landscaping near the house or a

newly dug crawl space can also raise radon levels.

If you know your home is built on granite -- which can contain high

levels of radium -- that's another reason to test for radon.

Don't be lulled into complacency if your neighbor tests for radon and

finds low levels. One of the highest recorded radon levels was found in

Pennsylvania in the home of nuclear plant engineer Stanley Watras.

Watras discovered his radon problem when his clothes set off radioactive

alarms one day at work and the problem was later traced to the radon in

his home. Yet checks of other houses in the neighborhood re- vealed that

Watras' next-door neighbor had low radon levels.

A lot of the variation in radon levels has to do with the "tightness"

of a house. The more energy efficient a home, the more likely that it

will have higher radon levels. In the average house, there is one

complete air exchange every six to seven hours. That is, about four

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times a day all the air from inside the house is exchanged with outside

"The tighter your house, the more likely it is that the air exchange

will come from beneath the house, from the air over the soil that may

contain high levels of radon gas," says Dr. Naomi Harley, a research

professor at New York University's Department of Environmental Medicine.

In winter, especially, when houses are tightly sealed to keep the

heat in, the air pressure inside is lower than that outside, which

helps to suck in outside air -- particularly from underneath the house.

Here are three general ways to detect radon: Charcoal canister. The

majority of homes checked for radon undergo this test. It consists of

placing a small, charcoal-containing canister about the size of a 35-mm

film case in your home, usually in the basement, where radon levels are

likely to be highest. The charcoal absorbs gamma radiation from the

radon gas, much the same way that a box of baking soda absorbs odors

from the refrigerator.

Before conducting the test, all doors, windows and other openings to

the house are closed for 12 hours -- although residents can still go in

and out of the house. The test is inexpensive enough (about $10 to $20

per canister) that it can be conducted in several locations of the

"It's important," says EPA's Page, "to place the charcoal canister in

the lowest part of the house, like the basement." But don't place it on

a rafter or in a corner. Keep the canister in the middle of a room on a

table or chair. Keep it away from drafts, and don't place it directly on

heaters or a furnace, which will bake it and dry it out, possibly

affecting test results. Alpha Track or Track Etch. This detector ($20 to

$40) looks like a small plastic pill box. When radiation from the radon

gas strikes the box, it marks a plastic strip inside the box. The

advantage of the alpha track is that it gives a longer-term reading of

radon levels. The disadvantage is that the detector must remain in place

for at least a month and preferably two or three months. To get an

annual average, the alpha track must be used for 12 months -- longer

than some people are willing to wait.Continuous Radon Monitor. The most

expensive test is one conducted by a technician who will come to your

house with an electronic detector. This radon monitor is about the

size of a clock radio, and at anywhere from $75 to $150 a day, is the

most expensive to operate.

It is used for about two days, results are available a few days

later. This device is most often used in real-estate transactions in

which a sale is contingent upon the radon levels in a home. Aside from

cost, the drawback to this test is that it gives a reading for a very

brief period of time, which most experts say is not indicative of

long-term exposure levels.

Whether radon tests should be required during a home sale is under

debate. "I think certainly when a house is bought and sold that there

should be a radon test by law, as there are other tests by law," says

New York University's Harley.

But others think it is a mistake to require a radon test. "It would

be like opening a can of worms," says Paul Frame, a professor of health

physics at the Oak Ridge Associated Universities in Tennessee. "Someone

who knows what they are doing can generate any kind of radon level they

want to. The best thing you can do is after you purchase a home, measure

the radon levels yourself over a period of time." Money could be placed

in escrow by the seller, Frame says, which would be used only if the

house needs radon repairs.

What to Do With Test Results

Radon is found everywhere. "It's impossible not to find it," says

Frame. "People shouldn't panic if they find that their house has radon."

Typical levels for a house are about 1.5 picocuries per liter. The

EPA sets the following guidelines to help homeowners gauge their radon

levels: Less than 4 picocuries per liter. No remedial action is probably

required in your home. Between 4 and 20 picocuries per liter. Some

remedial action may be required during the next year or so. Between 20

and 200 picocuries per liter. Remedial action may be required within

the next several months. Above 200 picocuries per liter. Remedial action

should be taken within the next several weeks.

It's important to remember that the EPA's guidelines reflect annual

averages. Most tests show the radon levels during a period of a few

days, or in the case of the alpha track detector, during a few months.

The rule of thumb is that if you make a measurement in the winter using

the closed-house charcoal detector, your home's radon levels will be

"about two to three times higher than the average level for the whole

year," says EPA's Guimond.

Always repeat high tests, experts advise. "We've had a house where

someone made the first measurement, and it was 300 picocuries per

liter," says Guimond. A second test showed much safer levels of 20

picocuries per liter. "But if the first test shows 200 picocuries, get a

follow-up test quickly," he advises. "Don't wait a long time."

A basement radon level slightly above the EPA's 4 picocuries per

liter "doesn't necessarily mean that you have a high level of radon

throughout your house," adds NYU's Harley. In fact, levels throughout

the house can be substantially lower.

Never begin major repairs on your home on the basis of just one radon

test. "I'm afraid that people out there are spending an awful lot of

money on the basis of these screening tests," says Oak Ridge's Frame.

"The longer the period over which the measurement is taken, the more

accurate it is."

Fixing Your Home

The EPA lists six techniques that will reduce radon levels in a home.

Over the past several years, most contractors have gravitated toward a

procedure called a subslab suction for houses with severe radon

problems. "It has a very high success rate; it's idiot-proof and doesn't

require maintenance," says David Saum, president of Infiltech, a company

that does research for EPA and also offers home repairs.

In the subslab process, pipes are run underneath a house and attached

to a fan, which draws gases from beneath the house and into the outside

air. It takes a two-member crew about a day to install the equipment.

Average cost is about $1,200.

But there also are less expensive do-it-yourself ways that

homeowners can use to lower radon levels, depending on the radon levels.

"It's really not that complicated to fix your house," says NYU's Harley.

Some can be as simple as enclosing an open sump pump or adding fans to

help ventilation.

Prevention is the best bet for new homes. "It's really inexpensive

and easy to lay down a network of plastic pipe {in the subslab} that

will allow the radon gas to be removed before it gets into the home,"

she says. In a home under construction, the costs of this preventive

radon measure is a few hundred dollars, compared with $1,000 or more for

repair of older homes.

It's never too late to lower radon levels, say health experts. "Some

people say, 'Gosh, I've been living in my house for 20 years with high

radon levels. Why should I do anything about it now that the damage has

already been done?' " says Guimond of the EPA's Office of Radiation.

"But that's not true. Our data suggest that if you reduce your exposure

to radon, in time you will reduce your risk of lung cancer."

And that, says Guimond, "should be incentive for people to learn what

their home radon levels are, and if they are elevated, to make the

changes to reduce them."

A detector is placed -- usually in the basement but away from drafts

-- for several days to several weeks. Two common types are shown here:

the charcoal canister, foreground, and the alpha track.

The device is mailed to a laboratory. One test is not considered

sufficient to gauge year-round radon exposure levels. Radon is usually

higher in the winter, when windows are closed, and lower in the summer.

Results (based on annual average, in picocuries per liter):

4 or less: No action is necessary.

4 to 20: Some home repairs may be necessary but are not urgent.

21 to 200: Repairs should be made within the next several months.

Above 200: Remedial action should be taken in the next few weeks.

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