Reply to Dangerous levels of Radon found in 28 MCPS schools.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]FYI
"A family whose home has radon levels of 4 pCi/l is exposed to approximately 35 times as much radiation as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would allow if that family was standing next to the fence of a radioactive waste site. (25 mrem limit, 800 mrem exposure)

An elementary school student that spends 8 hours per day and 180 days per year in a classroom with 4 pCi/l of radon will receive nearly 10 times as much radiation as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission allows at the edge of a nuclear power plant.(25 mrem limit, 200 mrem exposure)

Most U.S. EPA lifetime safety standards for carcinogens are established based on a 1 in 100,000 risk of death. [b]Most scientists agree that the risk of death for radon at 4 pCi/l is approximately 1 in 100. [/b]At the 4 pCi/l EPA action guideline level, radon carries approximately 1000 times the risk of death as any other EPA carcinogen. It is important to note that the action level is not a safe level, as there are no "safe" levels of radon gas."

From the Radon Information Ctr http://www.radon.com/radon/radon_facts.html[/quote]

That's interesting, because the EPA says that at 4 pCi/l, if 1,000 people who never smoked were exposed to this level over a lifetime, about 7 people could develop lung cancer. I guess that you could say that 7/1,000 is approximately 1/100, but the risk of developing lung cancer is absolutely not the same as the risk of dying from lung cancer, and I think that the "lifetime of exposure" thing is relevant too.

But if you want to trust "radon.com" over the EPA, go ahead.[/quote]

The survival rate for lung cancer is about 17%.  So let's not rely on the difference between getting it and dying of it.   [/quote]

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