Crews from Cascade Radon Inc. of Portland installed a ventilation fan system Monday at Jeff and Traci Schultz’ house on Diagonal Avenue Southwest. The fan is designed to suck radon from under the basement floor, reducing the levels of the gas in the house below the threshold the federal government deems safe.
Traci Schultz said it all started when her husband read an article on radon in “Consumer Reports” magazine that recommended that people test their homes for the gas.
The family ordered a test kit, which registered the radon at 9 picocuries — well over the limit of 4 the Environmental Protection Agency says is healthy.
“We were just shocked,” said Traci Schultz, whose home was built in 2002. “It was like, really? We have high levels of radon?”
Radon is a radioactive gas that naturally seeps from the earth. Its health effects have been known for more than 20 years. About 22,000 people in the United States die each year from radon-induced lung cancer, Mike Brennan, a radiation health physicist at the state Department of Health said, citing an EPA statistic.
It has rarely been reported in this part of the state. The state’s head radon official shared Traci Shultz’s shock. Brennan said he had never heard of a confirmed report of radon in the county in more than 18 years with the agency.
“This was a real surprise,” he said, “and in fact, the first time Jeff called and gave me the results of his test my response was, ‘Are you sure?’ Because while the tests are very easy to do, I have encountered people who have managed to make a mistake recording.”
But another test backed up the results. It registered 7.9 picocuries in their bedroom, which is on an upper level, and 24 in the basement.
Brennan said radon is most often found in Washington around Spokane, elsewhere in Eastern Washington and around Vancouver.
Brennan’s bottom line is that everyone should test their homes.
“You don’t know if you don’t test,” he said.
Jeff Schultz said the test was about $25. The mitigation, however, cost about $2,000.
He said the family turned to a Portland company to mitigate the gas because they couldn’t find any local firms.
Steve Tucker, president of the company, said radon is random — though the Schultzes have it, their neighbors may not. But it’s impossible to say until tests are done.
Washington state doesn’t force people to get radon tests or install mitigation equipment, Brennan said. Seven counties require radon mitigation equipment to be installed in newly constructed residences — Clark, Ferry, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Skamania, Spokane and Stevens.
But Brennan said people here can install the same system in a new house — a perforated pipe and vent that sends radon away — for $200.
