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From: craig@think.ARPA (Craig Stanfill)
Newsgroups: net.rumor
Subject: Re: Reading Radon
Message-ID: <3265@think.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 5-Nov-85 10:03:46 EST
Article-I.D.: think.3265
Posted: Tue Nov  5 10:03:46 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 7-Nov-85 04:55:50 EST
References: <1837@hao.UUCP>
Reply-To: craig@think.UUCP (Craig Stanfill)
Distribution: net
Organization: Thinking Machines, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 31
Summary: 

I'm not sure where I read this (I think it either in the Boston Globe or
in Time magazine), but here is what I remember about Radon pollution.

Radon is a byproduct of the decay of Uranium in granite.  It seeps into
cracks and then into the atmosphere.  If a structure is built on top of
the fissure, the radon seeps into the basement.  The radon then decays
into short-lived non-gaseous radio isotopes, which stick to dust, walls,
your lungs, etc.  The result is that the basement or even the entire
structure may become quite radioactive, and the radioactive
contamination of your lungs can cause lung cancer.  In the article I
read, a worker at a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania set of the
radiation alarms when he came INTO work.  They checked out his house,
and found radon levels 100 (1000?) times higher than OSHA guidelines for
short term exposure for Uranium miners.  It was, in fact, the highest
concentration of radon ever detected in a house.  The carcinogenic
potential was roughly equivalent to smoking many (either 3 or 100?)
CARTONS of cigarettes per day!  On an actuarial basis, 20 years of
living in the house would give close to a 100% chance of getting lung
cancer.  Fortunately, the owner had only lived there for a little over a
year.

This was, of course, an extreme case.  Radon pollution tends to be very
localized: only the one house sitting on top of a particular `hot spot'
may be affected.  If you live in an area where hot spots occur, it is
wise to have your house tested.  The best course of action is to contact
your count (or state) public health office and ask whether radon is a
problem in your community, and if so to ask or pay for a test.  The
problem is moderately rare, but potentially very serious.