Your Guide to Consumer Information
M I N N E S OTA
RADON
Risk reduction through patient education
By Joseph Leach, MD, Michele O’Brien, MSN, ACNS-BC, AOCNS,
and Andrew Gilbert
T
here’s a simple, safe, and costeffective procedure that, if
implemented on a national
scale and performed roughly every
five years at an average cost of $15
per household, has the potential to
decrease the number of lung cancer
deaths by more than 21,000 each year.
For every 1,000 patients treated with
this regime, it may be possible to
prevent up to 27 lung cancer deaths a
year in Minnesota. The procedure:
testing homes for radon gas.
The American Cancer Society
estimates that in 2009, lung cancer
killed 159,390 people, representing
approximately 28 percent of all cancer
deaths. It continues to be the No. 1
cause of cancer death in both men and
women, with a five-year survival rate
of approximately 20 percent. There is
little dispute at this point that smoking
is the largest contributor to lung can­
cer. What’s often overlooked is that
lung cancer in people who have never
smoked is the seventh biggest
cancer killer worldwide.
Environmental hazards are
thought to play an important role in
the development of lung cancer in
never-smokers. Reducing exposure to
known environmental carcinogens is a
rational strategy to reduce this burden
of cancer. Unlike most cancers, the risk
of exposure to the predominant envi­
ronmental carcinogen in lung cancer—
radon gas—can be easily tested for
and, if present, eliminated. Unfor­
tunately, public awareness of the dan­
gers posed by this widespread toxin is
low. Thousands of cancer deaths each
year could be prevented if more people
knew about the dangers of radon and
acted on this information.
Radon gas: most
dangerous where we live
Radon gas is the second leading cause
of lung cancer in our country. It is the
primary risk factor for non-smoking
lung cancer and, when combined with
smoking, increases the risk of lung
cancer even further. Exposure to
radon in particular is often over­
looked as a risk factor because it is
not detectable through smell, sight,
or taste.
Radon occurs naturally in the soil
throughout the country. Minnesota in
particular has large quantities of ura­
January 2011 • Volume 9 Number 1
nium and radium left over in its soil
from the last ice age. When these ele­
ments decay, they produce radon gas.
This gas can be found at some level in
all of the outside air we breathe, but
generally only reaches dangerous
levels in the place where we feel the
safest—our homes.
Minnesota homes are generally
built with basements and tend to
operate under a negative pressure in
order to conserve heat during cold
winters. This negative pressure draws
air from the soil under a home into
its lowest level. This air brings with it
all sorts of soil gases, radon being one
of them. Once in a basement or lower
level, radon has few avenues of escape
and will accumulate to higher and
higher levels.
Radon in the air can be inhaled
and deposited in the lungs. Keep
in mind, however, that radon has
decayed from uranium and radium
and therefore is radioactive itself. As
it continues to decay, it emits particles
of alpha radiation. When alpha parti­
cles interact with lung tissue, injury to
DNA occurs. This increases the likeli­
hood of mutations, which can lead to
the development of lung cancer.
As an environmental hazard,
radon appears to fall under the juris­
diction of public health. But this is
not just a public health issue; it’s a
personal health issue that puts many
people at risk, of which most are
unaware, for a lethal illness. Just as
physicians and other health care
providers play a critical role in edu­
cating their patients about the risks
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of tobacco and obesity, they
are also in a prime position
to educate their patients
about the risks of radon
exposure and the impor­
tance of testing for it in
their homes.
determine how to proceed. If
levels are between 2 and 8
pCi/L, you may want to perform a long-term test to get a
better understanding of aver­
age annual exposure levels.
You may call the MDH Indoor
Air Unit at 651-201-4604 or
Radon testing
800-798-9050 with questions
Testing is the only way to
regarding your test results.
determine the level of radon
If a test indicates that your
Radon building code
in a home. Fortunately, testhome has dangerous levels of
As of June 2009, new homes built in the state must include
ing is easy, inexpensive, and
radon, you may want to conradon-reducing features. These new home features, however,
can be done by anyone.
sider having a radon mitiga­
do not always guarantee maximum risk reduction and may
Short-term test kits generally
need to be “activated” by a contractor. If your new home
tion system installed. In most
cost less than $15 and can
system has not been activated, test your home to determine
cases this will involve a sys­
if you should have a contractor activate your system. Visit
be purchased online and at
tem, installed by a certified
MDH’s website at www.health.state.mn.us/radon for more
many hardware stores.
contractor, that is designed to
information.
These kits are left in the
draw soil gases from below the
lowest frequently occupied
slab of your home and vent
a short-term kit is during winter
level of the home for two to seven
them
into
the atmosphere above the
months because the home is closed
days before being sent to a laboratory
up. January is National Radon Action roofline. Additionally, cracks and
for analysis. Basements are tested if
Month and an ideal time to test. Some openings in your slab, such as an
the home’s occupants spend several
open sump pit, will be sealed to
local public health departments offer
hours each day there; otherwise, test
ensure maximum reduction.
free or low-cost test kits to residents.
MDH maintains a listing of con­
Check with your local health depart­
tractors
who have passed a national
ment to see if they offer kits.
exam certifying that they are qualified
Long-term test kits, which gener­
to install radon mitigation systems.
ally cost from $20 to $50, are put in
Depending on the specifics, radon
place for anywhere from 90 days to a
mitigation systems usually cost
year. These kits provide a more accu­
between $1,200 and $1,500. It is
rate look at how much radon is in a
home because they are not as sensitive highly recommended that certified
contractors install a system due to the
to short-term variables such as tem­
special knowledge and skills required
perature or weather that can some­
to effectively reduce radon levels in a
times affect the results of short-term
home. A list of qualified contractors
Nearly 80 percent
test kits.
that operate in the state can be found
of Minnesota
Radon exposure is expressed
counties are rated
on MDH’s radon website:
in units called picocuries per liter
high-radon zones.
www.health.state.mn.us/radon.
(pCi/L), which measure the number
The long-term impact of this
ZONE 1: >4pCi/L
of radioactive disintegrations occur­
intervention could prevent the deaths
ZONE 2: >2 <4pCi/L
ring in a liter of air. The EPA, while
of thousands of unwitting victims
maintaining that any level of radon
from this unseen killer. Among the
exposure can pose a risk, suggests
lives saved could be your own.
that any result above 4.0 pCi/L is
on the first floor. These kits offer a
most dangerous. For this reason, it is
Joseph Leach, MD, and Michele O’Brien,
quick, effective way to determine if
generally advisable to reduce levels of
MSN, ACNS-BC, AOCNS, practice with
your home has a radon problem.
Minnesota Oncology. Andrew Gilbert
radon to below 2.0 pCi/L.
MDH recommends that all
works in the Indoor Air Unit of the
Once you receive your short-term
homes, regardless of age or location,
Minnesota Department of Health.
test results, it will be up to you to
be tested. The best time to test with