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Ga. leads southeast in unsafe levels of Radon

New year, new resolution?  The Environmental Protection Agency has designated January as National Radon Action Month.  Radon kills nearly 22,000 people each year, more than 800 of them in Georgia.

Becky Chenall, a radon educator at the University of Georgia, says radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S., after tobacco smoke.

"In the United States, radon-induced lung cancer kills more people than drunk-driving accidents," said Chenall.

Brian Lunsford is co-owner and president of Inspect-All Services, a company that does home inspections.  He says unfortunately, Georgia leads the southeast in unsafe levels of this harmful gas.

"It is definitely prevalent and it is something we see every day," said Lunsford.

Radon is an odorless, invisible and tasteless gas released by the natural decay of uranium in the soil and rocks that enters homes through the foundations. Lunsford says it doesn't matter if the home is new or old, radon can be anywhere.

Rosemary Gray had a home she was planning on purchasing tested for radon and learned the levels inside were unsafe.

"They spiked all the way up to 15, but they averaged out to 4.8," said Gray.  Action was taken to reduce the levels.

According to the EPA, no level of radon is safe, but anything above 4 is considered dangerous.  However, Chenall says it's never going to be zero.

"Radon is naturally occurring, so you will have a number and the numbers we are concerned with are four and higher," said Chenall.

"It was concerning,” said Gray.  “We are in really good health, but if we plan on spending 10 or 20 years in a home, we didn't want to come up with something [like] lung cancer, when neither one of us smokes," she said.

Snellville resident Glen Rogers says he too had a home tested for radon and the levels were in the upper ranges.

"I was concerned to a moderate extent, but I wasn't going to let it preclude me from buying the house," said Rogers.

Lunsford says if unsafe levels of radon are detected in your home, it can be mitigated.

"They'll basically cut a hole in the ground and draw the air through the house, ventilate it all the way of the house," said Lunsford.

Rogers says he had a contractor make several changes including improving the ventilation, changing the pressurization and ventilation supplies from a negative to a positive in the space and adding insulating materials behind the wall boards and between the studs that are supposed to block radon.

Many states require radon resistant construction for new homes.  At this time, Georgia is not one of those states.

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