Keywords: radon, pollution control, water quality, Farm*A*Syst, Home*A*Syst,
point source, nonpoint source
This is the second issue focusing on Pollution Control. The previous issue was concerned with pesticide management and water quality. This issue, Summer 1999, explores radon and a second aspect of water quality. The first article in this issue highlights Extension's efforts in improving water quality through our participation in a national program. The second article outlines Extension's Radon Awareness Program. The CRD personnel presently involved in pollution control are Jesse LaPrade, Barbara Mobley, Laura Booth, and Susan Roberts.
The next issue of ACTion, Fall 1999, will focus on Community Strategic Planning. For more information on these topics or suggestions for additional topics, contact me at (334) 844-3517, FAX (334) 844-9022, or e-mail: jchesnut@acesag.auburn.edu.
J. Thomas Chesnutt, Editor
Extension Tourism Specialist
Detrimental Effects of Nonpoint Source Pollution
Although nonpoint source pollution can seldom be traced to its source, increasing populations and chemical use make it imperative that all citizens be aware of the negative consequences of dumping unwanted chemicals and items that can adversely affect our water quality. Just one gallon of used motor oil can contaminate up to 1 million gallons of quality water making it unfit for human consumption! Processes at drinking water treatment facilities can remove most pollutants, but the more pollution present means increased expense to the water consumer. Some of these pollutants, however, cannot be completely removed by current water treatment processes, including the use of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These VOCs are present in gasoline, motor oil, and many solvents.
Citizen Participation Essential to Success
The majority of our citizens want to protect the quality of Alabama's water. Many citizens are simply unaware of activities that can adversely affect our water quality; they need to know factual information about nonpoint source pollution, where it originates, and how they can help reduce the pollution in Alabama. More than 90 percent of the citizens surveyed in Alabama responded that they want to enhance their environmental education.
The Self Environmental Assistance program, developed by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, is a part of the National Farm*A*Syst, Home*A*Syst program. It was designed to help citizens better understand the impact of their everyday practices on water quality. The program was made available to all counties in 1995. More than 25,000 citizens statewide have already participated in this program. There are currently three Extension publications, ANR-801, ANR-802, and ANR 803, that deal with the farm environment, the home environment and, unique to Alabama, the small business environment. These publications are designed to help citizens understand the importance of water quality and how to maintain and safeguard this essential natural resource. Most of the citizens who have participated in the Farm*A*Syst, Home*A*Syst program in Alabama indicated that they plan to make changes in their farming, home environmental management, or small business practices that will reduce nonpoint source pollution.
We Need Your Participation!
You are invited and encouraged to participate in this program if you have not already done so. You can obtain any of the publications at no cost at any Alabama county agent's office.
Water is essential to all forms of life and it must be safeguarded from pollution. In Alabama, we all depend on and expect an adequate quantity of quality water and our children and their children will as well. We can help safeguard our water quality now and for future generations if we know how. Please join the Alabama Cooperative Extension System in learning more about environmental stewardship and helping Alabama continue to thrive.
Jesse C. LaPrade
Extension Environmental Specialist
While most people are aware that air pollution can be hazardous to their health, many do not know that the air they breathe inside their own homes could be killing them. Millions of homes and buildings contain high levels of radon gas, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that invades the home as a silent killer. Many do not even know it's present. When radon decays and is inhaled into the lungs, it releases energy that can damage the DNA in sensitive lung tissue and lead to lung cancer. In fact, prolonged exposure to high levels of radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, contributing to between 7,000 and 30,000 lung cancer deaths each year. Smokers are at higher risk of developing radon-induced lung cancer.
"We do not know how many people have died in Alabama because of high radon levels, but we do know radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer, just behind tobacco smoke," Dr. Jesse C. LaPrade, Extension Environmental Specialist, said. "We do know smoking tobacco and being exposed to radon have a cumulative effect. If you smoke and you're subjected even to moderate levels of radon, the chances of developing lung cancer are much greater than if you do not have radon in your home or are exposed to low levels of radon."
Radon in the Home
Radon experts say that if there were such a thing as a radon factory, it would be called "house." Radon has been found in elevated levels in homes in every state. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that as many as one in 15 homes across the U.S. has elevated radon levels. The primary source of high levels of radon in homes is the soil below the dwelling. Radon is a natural, radioactive decay product of radium, which is itself a decay product of uranium. Uranium and radium are both common elements found in rock, soil, and water. Radon is harmlessly dispersed in outdoor air, but when trapped in buildings it can be harmful, especially at elevated levels. Radon gas enters a home the same way air and other soil gases enter the home, through cracks in the foundation, floor or walls, hollow-block walls, and openings around floor drains, pipes, and sump pumps. It can also be present in some construction materials and in water from underground sources including private wells.
Testing for Radon
Radon is measured in picocuries per liter of air, a measurement of radioactivity. The U.S. EPA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that homes with radon levels at or greater than 4.0 picocuries per liter be fixed. Because radon is invisible and odorless, testing is the only way to determine if a home has high radon levels. Testing can be done either professionally or by homeowners themselves. Most hardware, home improvement, and retail stores carry radon test kits priced under $25; however, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System offers test kits and test kit coupons to citizens at a discount price of $4.95, available at county Extension offices.* The nominal fee includes shipping and laboratory analysis fees.
If a test indicates an elevated level of radon, reducing the level is often easy and usually inexpensive. Sometimes homeowners can do the work themselves, though it is recommended that they seek professional guidance or have the work done by a professional radon mitigator who is certified by the U.S. EPA.
Based on a national residential radon survey completed in 1991, the average indoor radon level in the United States is 1.3 picocuries per liter (pCi/L). The average outdoor level is about 0.4 pCi/L, but not all houses or buildings, or those in the same area or the same neighborhood, have the same radon level. The only way to find out what the radon level is in your house is to test for it.
Alabama Extension Radon Awareness Program
Starting October 1, 1997, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System has developed and implemented an intensive educational program to provide the citizens of the 15 Alabama Zone 1 counties with radon awareness. Zone 1 counties have the greatest potential for high radon concentrations and a greater health risk; Zone 2 counties have moderate potential and risk; Zone 3 counties also have a potential for high radon concentrations and health risk but less than Zones 1 and 2. The program was developed in cooperation with the Alabama Department of Public Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, Alabama Lung Association, and the Southern Regional Radon Training Center at Auburn University. At this point, the Alabama program is the only Extension program in the country directed towards educating citizens on a major scale about the dangers of radon. The program is totally funded by grant money and county agent time is matched by Alabama Cooperative Extension System funds.
Jesse LaPrade, Extension Environmental Specialist, oversees the project as its project director. Barbara Mobley, environmental program specialist, works directly with county agents in each of the high-risk counties. The agents have received intensive training in radon education through literature, videos, and national and regional training seminars. Several agents have also attended national seminars and training conferences to increase radon awareness and education in their counties. The county agents offer radon awareness activities in school and 4-H programs, and in seminars to realtors and home builders. They also make presentations to civic and community groups and school administrators and provide literature, news releases, newsletters, radio announcements, and exhibit displays.
Originally, the program sought to reach only those citizens in the 15 Zone 1 counties—Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne, Colbert, Coosa, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Morgan, Shelby, and Talladega. However, during the second fiscal year of the program, Blount County, a Zone 2 county, was included in the program as a special test project. Marion and DeKalb counties, also Zone 2 counties, will be added October 1, 1999, the start of the third fiscal year of the program. Future plans are to include other Zone 2 counties.
County agents presently involved in the Alabama Radon Program are Carol Reid (Blount), David West and Ruth Sarro (Calhoun), Marsha Moorehead and Tom Farrow (Clay), Marian Beck and Teresa McDonald (Colbert and Lauderdale), Melinda Luker and Roger Vines (Coosa), Karen Thompson (Franklin), Lewis Tapley (Jackson), David Hubbard, Jackie Ramsey, and Cynthia Whittaker (Jefferson), Linda Robinson (Lawrence), Reetta Christopher (Limestone), Walter Rodgers and Sabrina Hill (Madison), Julie Dutton and Betty Gottler (Morgan), Angela Treadaway and Peggy Prucnal (Shelby), and Wanda Jurriaans and Ronnie Williams (Talladega). Lisa Murphy (Marion) and Annette Wardrup (DeKalb) will join the project team in October.
Alabama Radon Program Results
From October 1, 1997, to April 9, 1999, the Alabama Radon Program has distributed over 2,500 radon test kits and generated sales of 1,653 test kits through the coupon discount program. Out of 1,565 test kits sent in for analysis, 350 tests or 22 percent were at or above 4.0 pCi/L. Of the tests received for analysis, Madison County had the highest percentage of homes that tested at or above 4.0 PCVL (46.7 percent). Colbert County had 31.75 percent followed closely by Cleburne County at 30 percent and Jackson County at 25 percent.
The Alabama program has reached a potential of 4,547,822 contacts through TV programs, radio announcements, news articles and newsletters, and exhibit displays. In addition, seminars and meetings held for seniors, civic and community groups, realtors, home builders, 4-H clubs, and school groups reached over 55,500 individuals.
National Radon Action Week
During National Radon Action Week last fall each county Extension agent sponsored special activities and media releases to educate the citizens of these counties. Victoria Coffee, Madison County Extension coordinator, instigated a news article in the Huntsville Times. As a result of that article, over 250 test kits were purchased and over 400 additional requests for information were received. In Jefferson County, Dr. LaPrade was featured on a morning news show giving information about radon in homes and over 300 requests were made for more information. County offices have estimated over 300,000 contacts were made for radon awareness during that week.
Educating Real Estate Professionals
No federal legislation or statute addresses radon exposure at the local level and few states have legislation that requires the use of radon-resistant new construction in high radon potential areas. Since only a few states have some form of radon disclosure or testing in residential real estate transactions, radon risk reduction is almost completely a voluntary effort.
To educate the Alabama real estate professionals about radon, testing and mitigation procedures, the Extension System and the Southern Regional Radon Training Center at Auburn University planned a three-hour continuing education course in radon education in May. Area meetings were held in Oxford, Birmingham, Florence, and Huntsville. The objective was to provide general background information with special emphasis on liability as related to radon in home sales.
Future Plans for the Program
Future plans for the program include radon risk awareness targeted for the medical community in the project counties. Training programs are also planned to educate homeowners on radon mitigation techniques and home builders on radon-resistant construction.
Hopefully, as the program progresses, more Alabama citizens will become better informed of the harmful effects that radon can cause, then test their homes for radon and act to reduce the radon levels if necessary. At the same time, the program hopes to increase awareness among real estate professionals and home builders to prevent home buyers from having to face the threat of radon in their newly purchased homes.
For more information about the Alabama Cooperative Extension System Radon Program, call Jesse LaPrade at (334) 844-5533 or Barbara Mobley at (256) 831-5278.
Susan H. Roberts
Extension Associate in
Environmental Education
*County Extension offices in the 15 Zone One counties and Blount County offer the test kits and/or coupon order forms at $4.95. If you live in another county and wish to test for radon in your home, call (334) 844-3686 for information on how to obtain a test kit at the discounted price.
ACTion is published once each quarter by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.
We would like you to share success stories in your community
for inclusion in future issues of ACTion. Send to: J. Thomas Chesnutt,
218 Extension Hall, Auburn University, Alabama 36849.
| Summer 1999 | Editor, J. Thomas Chesnutt |
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work in agriculture and home economics, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, and other related acts, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M University and Auburn University) offers educational programs, materials, and equal opportunity employment to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.
