Welcome to the Eastern Shawnee Environmental Department Radon Information Page!

                            

The Eastern Shawnee Tribe is committed to protecting human health and the environment. To stay committed, a radon grant was awarded to the tribe by the EPA. With this funding, the tribe will be allowed to test tribal members’ homes, day cares, businesses, and schools tribal member’s children attend for radon gas. The testing will be of FREE OF CHARGE for residents.

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that comes from the natural decay of Uranium soils. It is found in outdoor air with an average level of 0.4 pCi/L (picocuries per liter). Radon gets into your home through cracks in solid floors, construction joints, gaps around service pipes, cavities inside walls, and through your water supply. The average radon level indoors is 1.3 pCi/L. The EPA has set a limit of 4.0 pCi/L, at which any home tested to have radon levels above 4.0 pCi/L must be remediated.

Radon is a proven carcinogen. Because it is present in the air at all times, it is responsible for about 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year. About 2,900 of these deaths occur in people who have never smoked! Radon is the FIRST leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers, and is the SECOND leading cause of lung cancer in smokers. Smoking in high levels of radon greatly increases the risk of dying of lung cancer. People who have quit smoking decrease their chances of getting or dying of lung cancer. Lung cancer is the only known effect on human health from radon exposure. But remember, lung cancer has the lowest survival rate!

                                           

Since there is no known safe level of radon, there can always be some risk. But, the risk can be reduced by lowering the radon level in your home. There are several proven methods to reduce radon in your home, but the most widely used is a vent pipe system and fan. This will pull radon from beneath the house and vent it to the outside. This system is known as the soil suction radon reduction system. You can also reduce radon levels by sealing all cracks in your foundation or other openings.

With help from the Eastern Shawnee Tribe, you can have your home tested for radon levels absolutely FREE! If you decide to have your home tested, trained personnel will come into your home and place a test kit. Some conditions must be met prior and during radon testing:

• The home or day care must be in closed conditions during the radon test period. This means that widows, doors, and other outside openings should be closed for the duration of the test. This excludes normal entrance and exit, but the door should not be left open for more than a few minutes.

• In addition to maintaining closed-building conditions during the measurement, closed-building conditions for 12 hours prior to the initiation of the measurement are a required condition for measurements lasting less than four days, and are recommended prior to measurements of up to a week in duration.

• Internal-external air exchange systems (other than a furnace) such as high-volume attic and window fans should not be operated during the measurement and for at least 12 hours before the measurement is initiated. Air conditioning systems that recycle interior air may be operated.

• The measurement will be delayed if the home is undergoing/planning, remodeling, changing the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, or making other modifications that might influence the radon concentration during the measurement period.

Measurement times will be centralized around the coldest months of the year, as it is during these months that the radon concentrations will be at their highest at the test sites due to lack of open windows.

You can protect yourself from radon exposure! All you have to do is have your home tested. Testing for radon is the only way to know if you are safe!