K
In 2004, former state lawmaker Frank Accavitti Jr.,
sponsored a bill that would have required radon testing
as part of indoor air quality requirements for all public school districts in the
state. Under the bill, HB 5560, districts would have been required to submit
an annual report on the status of indoor air quality to the superintendent of
public instruction. The program would have required inspections at least
every five years, starting in 2008. The bill, which failed to be voted out of
committee, would also would have required districts to incorporate radon
mitigation measures in construction plans in counties with high or moderate
radon risk.
While Redmond said he believes schools should be required to test for
radon, he said people shouldn't be too alarmed by initial, short-term tests
that are at or near four pCi/L.
"The ‘four picoCuries per liter’ is misleading," he said. "Few people know
this, but when they were trying to figure out what would be a reasonable
level — it wasn't going to be zero because there's always some radon.
Outdoor air is about two picoCuries, so they came up with four.
"The problem is that the four limit was originally decided upon in a
household under normal conditions, which means it's open in the summer
and spring, and closed in the winter, which means you need to monitor for a
year, continuously. In the winter, it's going to vary each season. The 'four' is
the average annual exposure, but people don't want to wait a year to find
the average."
Redmond said initial numbers between four pCi/L and 20 pCi/L aren't high
enough that they should cause an immediate panic. However, such figures
could be cause for a longer-term test. Further, he said people need to put
monitoring results in perspective. For instance, if you discover slightly
elevated levels of radon while being a chain smoker at the same time, your
risk for lung cancer is greatly increased.
"Don't panic in the short-term," he said. "I remember getting a call from a
guy who was concerned that he found 4.1 (picoCuries), but he was chain
smoking at the same time. You have to put the risk into perspective."
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Elliott, Kevin “Testing for radon in schools not always done".
DOWNTOWN News Magazine 26, June 2018
Page 11