DIYbanter - View Single Post - Slight radon problem, exchange basement air how often?

andy everett

wrote:

wrote:

I am convince that the entire Radon scare thing, while now undergoing a
slow death is absolutely nothing but a total scam perpetrated to make
money. It is simply a high-tech version of the old Gypsy Curse thing,
in which if you pay someone, they will make the evil thing go away.
Sure, right!

The EPA says a non-smoker continuously exposed to 4 pCi/l has a lifetime risk
of dying of lung cancer of 73 in 10,000, ie odds of 139 to 1. At 1.25 (close
to the 1.3 average indoor level) it's down to 23/10K, ie 435:1. At 0.4 (the
average outdoor level), it's 23/100K, ie 4,348:1.

... 4 was picked as a reasonable level to obtain for a reasonable cost
for a reasonable number of homes without panicking the public or busting
the budget... not that based on the hazard and the risk and the cost of
mitigation to that level... we should be controlling it to below .4 pC/l
for the average public.

The NSC gives 2:1 (men) and 3:1 (women) odds for contracting heart disease,
3:1 for contracting diabetes, 228:1 for death as a car occupant, 1,310:1
for death by medical complications, 4,857:1 for death as a bicyle rider,
12,417:1 for legal intervention involving firearm discharge, 55,597:1 for
death by legal execution, 56,439:1 for death by lightning, 286,537:1 for
ignition or melting of nightwear, 372,498:1 for death by contact with
venemous spiders, 413,887:1 for death by flood, and 1,241,661:1 for death
by contact with venemous snakes or lizards.

WITH mitigation to the recommended level, we are a lot more likely to die
of radon than to die in a auto accident. So why do we spend so much more
money and effort protecting ourselves from auto accidents?

Nick

Thank you for those statistics. I will try and reduce the radon levels
in my home ( assuming there is any here to begin with) and I think I
should be more careful where I ride my bike.