Radon - much ado about nothing.

[Richard Hull]

As a long time proponent of hormesis related to some forms or radiation intake by the human body, I have long felt that Radon, especially in concentrations under 100 pC/l in any environment were hormetic.

I have just sat through a 2 hour long class on Radon and the government's handling of the "suggested" 4 pC/l limit for homes. This class is given by a trained RSO (radiation safety officer and radio-toxicologist). He verbally gives his credentials of where he has done radiation studies for private and governmental agencies. He is not some college professor, but a worker within the radio-toxicological field where risks are seen and assessed and report generated from his work.

If you would care to burn-off 2 hours of your life to investigate the truth behind the radiation hazards claimed for Radon then go here. It shows how the government bureaucracies function and the many issues within them related to a number of factors as the radon scare is due to poor science directed at keeping people once employed by the government able to retire from government.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYZglUjLE0Y

Remember students, if you leave class early, you really did not get the full well presented thread especially pointed at in the last hour. It is a 4 part, half- hour exposure to the facts. Each part will auto load to continue the immediate flow of the full 2 hour class. The first hour is one of precise definitions and detailed explanations of toxicological terms related to health hazards as given within that science and was very revealing to me. Initially boring, but I learned a lot in that first hour. This maybe the best trip through the science of radon epidemiology that you will ever receive in your lifetime.

People who work are excused from class as 2 hours is a lot to ask of same. True students of radiation will take to this like ducks to water.

Richard Hull

[Rich Feldman]

Thanks for the pointer, Richard.

Anybody here have experience with, or recommendations for, airborne-radon test brands? (Collection kit + lab to which you send the sample)
California is one of the states that requires test providers to be certified.

One web search brought up a kit sold by Home Depot for $39.95. I wonder how the costs of testing, costs of anxiety when results come back above 2 or 4 pCi/l, and costs of mitigation in new & old construction
balance against the benefits of reduced lung cancer rates. Not taking a political position here, other than belief that dollar values can, should, and are placed on human lives. Always have, always will.

[Richard Hull]

One must point out as in the 2 hour lecture, it was mentioned that in a released document, all OSHA data regarding radon and lung cancer is based on data from only 10.3% of uranium miners (working under ground 8 hours a day) in addition to guesstimates of 53% of other miners for which there is no data to reach there conclusions regarding lung cancer and their suggested radon levels. They also note that this level is based on miners who smoke in addition to mining.

How many of us are uranium miners working under ground 8 hours a day and smoke?? This revelation came in the last hour of the class.

Early Uranium miners from which this epidemiological data was taken worked in 1000 - 10,000 pCi/l radon atmospheres and most smoked two packs of unfilterd "Luckys" per day back in the 50's....Still many lived into their 80's. Today's regs allow for 100 pCi/l radon levels for miners in 8 hour underground shifts as being OK according to OSHA. Go figure. It is all in the link told in the 2 hour classroom with images taken from the research paper work thrown up on screen during the lecture.

My lab is at a constant 20 pCi/l level. No remediation needed at all.

Richard Hull