State's Highest Radon Levels Found In Spokane County

SPOKANE - A new state report that shows Spokane County has the highest levels of radon in Washington is cause for concern but not panic, the county health district says.

"If you're smoking cigarettes, quit that first. It's much more of a risk. If you are not wearing seat belts, your risk of dying is much greater than radon poses," said Mike LaScuola, an environmental health specialist for the Spokane County Health District.

"But if people are planning on a good happy retirement, riding around in an RV, you should keep radon in mind."

A state Health Department report last week showed that 60 percent of the houses in Spokane County have 4 picocuries or more of radon gas per liter of air. That's the level at which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggests corrective action be taken.

A county health-district study showed the average radon level in Spokane was 10.6 picocuries.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare's tests in nearby Kootenai County show an average radon level of 8.7 picocuries. Coeur d'Alene averaged 8.9 picocuries and Post Falls 16.9 picocuries.

Radon is a colorless, odorless gas caused by the natural decay of radium and uranium in rocks and soil.

"It's a wellness issue," LaScuola said. "If you over-sensationalize these issues, you create much more of a health hazard. I would hate to think if anyone had a high radon level they would develop ulcers. People panic and lose sleep. God forbid someone should have a coronary over radon."

To put it in perspective, researchers say, consider that cigarette smoking causes 85 percent of all lung cancer. Radon is in second place, leading to 10 percent of lung-cancer cases.

In the general population, one out of 1,000 people will develop lung cancer. After a lifetime of exposure to 4 picocuries of radon, the EPA estimates that two people out of 1,000 will develop lung cancer. That's equal to the risk of drowning.

At a radon exposure of 20 picocuries, a person stands the same chance of developing lung cancer as he or she does of dying in a violent crime.

Despite EPA warnings about radon for the last decade, national figures show only 9 percent of U.S. households have been tested for the gas.

"People can't see it or smell it or taste it, so maybe they think it's another farce by the EPA," said Kara Stevens, radon specialist with Idaho's Health and Welfare Department.

In Washington, all new construction since 1992 includes radon-mitigation devices to suck the gas out of a home. The cost of fitting an older home with such a device costs between $500 and $3,500, LaScuola said.

In most of Idaho, builders are not required to install such devices.