Free program in Jamestown to share information on radon, asbestos issues in homes

Sep. 28—JAMESTOWN — Radon is the No. 1 cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers and it's preventable, said Justin Otto, North Dakota radon coordinator for the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality.

"Unfortunately, I get a lot of those calls," Otto said. "They go to the hospital, they find out they have lung cancer. And then their doctor tells them, have you tested for radon before and they say 'No', and then they test and they find out their home has elevated radon levels and they've never smoked a day in their life."

He said they didn't know about radon and wished they had been told about it.

Radon is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that comes up through the ground from the decay of uranium, Otto said. North Dakota has a lot of uranium in its soil and people don't know radon is there unless they test for it, he said.

"Radon is a carcinogen just like cigarette smoke is," Otto said. "... Of course, cigarette smoke is by far the No. 1 cause of lung cancer overall, but there's still 21,000 Americans each year that die from lung cancer from radon."

He noted radon gas is naturally occurring.

"Being that it's colorless, odorless, tasteless, a lot of people don't know it's in their home," Otto said. "They don't think about radon being a health concern because it's not like mold or something that you can smell and you know that you have a problem. People just don't know it's there unless they get educated on the subject."

Otto will speak about radon at a free informational meeting in Jamestown on Wednesday, Oct. 2, at Club 1883. Brian O'Gorman, environmental scientist, will also speak on asbestos. The informational meeting runs from 1 to 4 p.m. and is sponsored by Darcy Herman, First Choice Inspections of Jamestown.

"The radon testing I've done here in the last year, two years, even longer have shown increased levels of radon, not in all the homes but over the majority of the homes," Herman said. "I just thought what better way to have it explained (to the public) is to have the manager from the program in North Dakota come in and asbestos (as well)."

According to information from the Radon Control Program of the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, the average outdoor level of radon is 0.4 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) of air. The average indoor radon level is 1.3 pCi/L.

"One out of 15 homes nationally test elevated and the EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) action level is 4 picocuries per liter," Otto said. "So if it's above 4 picocuries per liter, they recommend fixing your home with a mitigation system. And In North Dakota, it's 2 out of 3 homes test elevated."

Information from the state agency says 63% of homes in North Dakota test above the EPA's action level of 4.0 picocuries per liter.

"... Anywhere your house touches the soil, radon can come in," Otto said. "It doesn't matter if you have a full basement, if you have a crawl space or a slab-on-grade. It doesn't matter if it was built 100 years ago or yesterday. It's how your house reacts to that soil. If your house is under a negative pressure, radon is going to be able to come in."

Otto said negative pressure creates a vacuum in the lower level of the home that pulls on the soil underneath the foundation. The greater the negative pressure beneath the foundation is one reason radon concentrations can be elevated inside a home, he said.

Otto will speak at the informational meeting in Jamestown on what radon is, its health effects, how to test, what your test results mean and how to fix your home.

"There's a lot of things that we can't control, but radon's one of them," he said. "Radon's a health concern we don't have to worry about. Let's test it. Let's see what our radon levels are. If they're elevated, let's get it fixed."

He will have free radon test kits for individuals who come to the presentation.

"We always recommend verifying those test results," Otto said. "So if the first one comes back elevated, they can get another test kit from our department and verify those test results. And then if they come back elevated, they can either install what's called a radon mitigation system themselves or they can hire a licensed radon mitigator."

He said there are several radon mitigators in Jamestown as well as some in Fargo and Bismarck who also provide services here.

The only way to know what a radon level is in the home is to test, Otto said.

"And if it comes back high, it's one of those health concerns that you can get rid of and you don't have a 'what if' down the road," he said.

Otto said more real estate officials are becoming familiar with radon and says they're one of the first lines of education to homeowners on the topic. He'd like to see more encourage radon testing.

"It'd be nice if everyone would be able to just tell them, 'Hey, let's just test this home, see what the radon levels are. If it comes back elevated, it's no big deal, it easily can be fixed.' Any home can be fixed, there's not one that can't be fixed," Otto said. "This is your dream home, let's make sure that it's safe."

A radon mitigation system creates a pathway for radon to be collected and vented safely to the outside instead of accumulating in the home, he said.

"The system's a little different depending on the type of foundation that you have — if you have a crawl space, if you have slab-on-grade, if you have a basement, if you have (a) multiple level home ...if you have drain tile, if you don't have drain tile," he said.

He said the average system with just drain tile or drilling a hole into concrete would be about $1,200 to $1,500 starting, adding it usually doesn't cost much more. Other systems could be more expensive if they require more labor, such as crawling around dirt crawl spaces to place a plastic membrane to seal up the area.

Herman also said in some older homes, asbestos wraps were used with heat ducts for furnaces. As they age, they can get friable and begin releasing asbestos ps. While HVAC contractors are aware of the issue, people doing their own work may not know the proper way to deal with that or the ramifications of it, he said.

Herman encourages people to attend the free informational meeting, where they can also get questions answered on the topics.

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What: free informational meeting on radon, asbestos

When: 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 2

Where: Club 1883, 519 1st Ave. S, Jamestown

Presenters: Justin Otto and Brian O'Gorman, North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality