Butler County radon levels above safe threshold, on average
January is National Radon Action Month, when homeowners are urged to have their homes tested for the radioactive gas.
Pennsylvania has one of the highest average radon levels in the U.S.
According to the American Lung Association’s annual “State of Lung Cancer Report,” Pennsylvania ranks 39th out of all states in terms of radon safety, with 39.1% of all tests at or above the maximum safe level set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Radon is a naturally-occurring radioactive gas formed by the decay of uranium found in the soil. The gas can leak into structures through cracks in floors, walls and pipes.
According to the American Lung Association, radon exposure is the second-leading cause of lung cancer deaths after smoking. The association estimates that radon exposure is responsible for 21,000 lung cancer deaths every year, making it the leading cause of lung cancer for non-smokers.
You may have the odorless gas in your home and not even realize it.
Kerri Kadyk, a real estate agent based in Saxonburg, says that both old and new homes are susceptible to high levels of radon, and radon levels can be unpredictable, even within the same neighborhood.
“It just depends on the soil or water composition below the home or structure. It doesn't matter if it is a new home or older home,” Kadyk said. “The tricky part with radon gas is that it may be a problem in one home and not a problem in a next-door neighbor’s house. It is possible to have high levels of radon gas on one side of the street and not on the other side of the street.”
Kennihan Plumbing and Heating, based in Valencia, conducts radon inspections and mitigation as one of its many services.
“We go into the house and look for cracks in the basement or drainage systems, or sump pumps that are not sealed off properly. Then we go ahead and put a test strip in there,” said Bill Kennihan. “Then you guys live like you normally do, but you keep everything shut for 72 hours.”
Once the data collection is finished, Kennihan sends the test strip to an lab based in Wisconsin.
If levels of radon above 4 picocuries per liter, or pCi/L, are detected — the level at which radon is considered dangerous — Kennihan returns to perform radon mitigation work, which usually involves drilling a hole in the affected surface and blowing the radon gas out of the structure with a fan.
Homeowners can easily order their own kits to perform tests themselves, in some cases for free. The American Lung Association is currently offering free test kits to Pennsylvania residents online at www.lungradonkits.org/pa, but supplies are limited. Radon test kits are also available online or through some home improvement stores.
For those buying a new home, it is possible to have a radon inspection conducted as part of the signing agreement. Home sellers also have the option of ordering a radon inspection before putting their home on the market.
“From my experience, the majority of radon inspections and tests are done by the buyer during their home inspection process. It is a contingency in the standard sales agreement that a buyer can elect to do on their behalf,” Kadyk said. “I would guess that over 50% of the offers I write for buyers do elect to have the radon test done.”
Pennsylvania’s official state website has a tool where residents can check the average and maximum amount of radon per household for each ZIP code out of all tests performed since January 1990, although not all ZIP codes may have results available.
For example, for Butler ZIP code 16001, the average amount of radon per household is 9.1 pCi/L in the basement out of 5,196 tests, and 6.5 pCi/L on the first floor out of 651 tests. One property registered a reading of 501.1 pCi/L in the basement.
While Kennihan says he hasn’t personally seen any readings that high, he has seen some bad cases of radon leakage.
“I’ve seen them as high as 62, 65, somewhere in there,” Kennihan said.
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