Saving Lives

The mission statement of our company is simply to save lives.

In October of 1988 Congress passed the Indoor Radon Abatement Act. The Act established the goal of the  United States that indoor air be as free from radon as the ambient air outside buildings. The law provided 45 million dollars over three years to be spent on State Grants, technical assistance and several other funding projects. The EPA was charged with carrying out the objectives.

My opinion is that the act has been a dismal failure. The EPA established a voluntary program that has not worked. Every year there are more homes with a radon problem than the year before.

Radon is a Class A carcinogen. The government regulates Class A carcinogens with the exception of tobacco and radon. The government instigates regulations if there is one additional death per ten thousand because of a class A carcinogen and is concerned at one additional death per one million from a Class A carcinogen.

The government recently raised the risk factor from two deaths per thousand to seven additional deaths per thousand or seven thousand additional deaths per million for non- smokers. For smokers, they raised that risk factor to sixty two per one thousand. The risk factor is established using 4 pCi/L. If that value is any higher your risk of getting lung cancer is greatly increased.

You have to ask yourself why so little is done about this hazard to you and your family from radon. Isn’t the government charged with protecting you from these types of hazards?

Maybe we should each write our Congressman and get his or her answer.

As a certified mitigator and measurement provider, we try to get the word out the best way we can. The Office of the Inspector General of the EPA has recently put out a negative report on the EPA’s efforts. The American Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists has put out a positions statement that you should read. You can access that statement Here

The sad thing about the hazard of radon is that it is so easily solved.

If you are not sure about a radon issue in your home get it tested. If you have a level higher than 4pCi/L you need to have it mitigated.