Cleburne among those with highest radon levels

By Wayne Ruple
CLEBURNE NEWS Editor
Printed: February 13, 2003; Cleburne News, online edition

Cleburne County is one of 15 counties with the highest radon levels in the state and the southern end of the county; including Edwardsville, Heflin and Ranburne show the highest local levels.

Of 73 homes checked in the Heflin area, 50 showed acceptable levels while 23 of the homes or 31.51 percent showed excessive levels.

Alabama Cooperative Extension System County Agent Coordinator Deborah Mathews said when she first heard about radon she wasn't too concerned but after listening to some prominent health experts discuss the problem and the relationship to lung cancer she began to take a more serious look.

According to Dr. Jesse LaPrade, Auburn University, "Radon causes an estimated 14,000 to 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year (second highst cause of lung cancer in the nation). It is the earth's only naturally occurring radioactive gas and comes from the breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water."

Dr. LaPrade adds, "You cannot see or smell radon but it can become a health hazard when it accumulates indoors. It can enter your home through cracks and openings in the foundation floor and walls. When radon decays and is inhaled into the lungs, it releases energy that can damage the DNA in sensitive lung tissue; long-term exposure can cause cancer."

The natural geologic structure of Cleburne County is called karst and "over time, geologic formations, such as large limestone rock formations, become weathered and form underground caves, cracks and channels. These fissures serve as conduits to channel radon gas, causing unpredictable flow rates and patterns of movement depending upon the season and outside environmental conditions," explains Mathews.

"This," she said, "causes radon gas to behave differently than in areas that don't have karst geology. Radon levels can vary day to day, and season to season. In karst areas, indoor radon levels have tested higher in the cold months (November - February) while some homes have tested higher in the warmer months."

Radon gets into your home through cracks, hollow block walls, openings around floor drains, pipes and sumps.

Cleburne County Executive Officer Steve Swafford said radon was so concentrated in the Fruithurst area that the town had to stop using artesian wells for drinking water because the gas was being brought up to homes and businesses via the water supply.

According to Swafford the Alabama Department of Environmental Management conducted tests and made the determination. The town, he said, had to connect to the county water system.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control recommend that homes with radon levels at or above 4 pCi/l be fixed (mitigated).

Mathews said the EPA conducted studies as early as 1988 in uranium mines in Pennsylvania and as more test results came in over the years their early findings held up. At that time they found miners who were more exposed living in their homes than working in the mines.

She said she is currently working with builders in the area to show them how to build radon resistant homes which only add about $500 to a new home and $800-$2,500 to retrofit an existing home.

Mathews is among one of four from Alabama who will be attending a conference in Washington D.C. to address the subject.

Locally she is also involved in organizing an environmental work group committee to look at the problem in this county.

Cleburne County is among 12 Alabama counties involved in a radon awareness-testing-mitigation program sponsored by the ACES.

Those interested in testing for radon should contact the Extension office at 205-463-2620 or go by their office in Heflin at 72 Brockford Road.