From Name
Trudy Y Smith

Radon professionals frequently express
frustration over the lack of attention paid to the radon health threat by the
press, Congress, the White House and other decision makers.  I received the
following information in an e-mail from our local home builders association.  
I believe this is how they effect change:
 
 
Thanks to everyone for helping us
overwhelm Congress last week with e-mails and calls.  With your help we sent
over 31,000 e-mails to Capitol Hill, bringing our total to-date to over
60,000. 
 
 
 
Today, Senator Johnny Isakson
(R-Ga.) introduced legislation to stimulate the housing market.  The Fix
Housing First Homebuyer Tax Credit legislation would expand the tax credit
passed last Spring to include all purchasers and would eliminate the current
requirement that it be repaid.  It would also enhance the existing tax credit
by:
 
*          Extending the eligibility
period for the credit to December
31, 2009
 
*          Increase the credit
amount to 10 percent of the home price
capped at 3.5 percent of FHA loan
limits (geographically dependent) – ranging between approximately $10,000 and
$22,000
 
*          “Monetizing” the credit
so it is available at the time of
closing
 
*          Allowing the credit to be
used in conjunction with mortgages
financed by state or local bonds
 
You think they might have heard 60,000
e-mails?
 
From: International
Web Resource for Radon Professionals [mailto:RADONPROFESSIONALS@LIST.UIOWA.EDU]
On Behalf Of Field, R W
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009
2:12 PM
To:
RADONPROFESSIONALS@LIST.UIOWA.EDU
Subject: [RADONPROFESSIONALS] PA
radon issue
 
Radon: still bad - and getting worse
Lancaster Newspapers - Lancaster, PA,USA
 
Studies have found Pennsylvania — where the radon
scare originated
in 1984 — with some of the most elevated levels of radon in the US, and Lancaster
County ...
Not
enough people do, according to a new federal government report that says more
people than ever are living in homes with the cancer-causing gas.
Studies have found Pennsylvania — where the radon
scare originated in 1984 — with some of the most elevated levels of the
naturally occurring gas in the U.S.,
and Lancaster County with some of the highest pockets
in the Commonwealth.
A 2005 study, cited as the most comprehensive yet on radon findings in the U.S., found that six southcentral Pennsylvania counties, including Lancaster, had the highest average radon
levels in the country.
An estimated 40 percent of the homes in Pennsylvania
have elevated levels of radon, according to the state Department of
Environmental Protection.
According to DEP, the average national radon level in homes is 1.3 picocuries
per liter. In Lancaster
County, the average level
as determined by radon test results is 16.1.
Some 65 percent of homes tested by one radon tester here have exceeded the 4
picocuries-per-liter level at which state and federal officials recommend
action be taken to reduce levels in the house.
     INTERACTIVE MEDIA:
Testing for radon
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates about 20,000 people
needlessly die of lung cancer caused by radon each year in the U.S. Most of
the radon exposure is in homes, where the odorless, radioactive gas in soil
seeps into basements or ground floors and builds up.
Alarmed at the health issue, Congress in 1988 passed the Indoor Radon Abatement
Act with a goal of making indoor air just as relatively free of radon as the
outdoors.
Some $62 million has been spent since 2000 on educational efforts to get people
to test their homes — a do-it-yourself kit from hardware stores costs $25 — and
for builders to construct radon-safe homes.
But the campaign is losing ground, according to a new $629,000 examination of
the effort by EPA's Office of Inspector General.
"The nation is building more homes in radon problem areas at a faster pace
than testing and mitigations are taking place in existing homes," the
report says. "Therefore, an even larger radon exposure problem is being
created in the country over time, not a lesser problem."
For example, of 6.7 million new homes built in the U.S. between 2001-2005, only about
7 percent had radon-resistant features, according to the study.
"Sadly, more people are exposed to radon than ever before,"
said  Lancaster native and radon researcher R. William Field, testifying
before the President's Cancer Panel in Washington
last month.
"Every home should be tested because one home could have a low reading and
their next-door neighbor could have a very high reading," said Field,
professor of occupational and environmental health and epidemiology at the University of Iowa, and an internationally known 
radon researcher.
Gov. Ed Rendell has declared January as Radon Action Month in the state, and
urges all homeowners to test for radon.
The Inspector General's report says the radon campaign is hindered because, so
far, it is voluntary.
It cites "disincentives" such as Realtors and home sellers who don't
want to jinx deals by doing radon tests and finding it present. And home
builders are reluctant to construct homes with radon-resistant techniques,
though simple and usually under $1,500, because they don't want to add to the
cost of buying a home, according to the study.
RADON AT-A-GLANCE
• Lung cancer from radon in homes kills
about 20,000 Americans a year.
• Pennsylvania is one of the most radon-prone
states; 40% of homes are believed to have unsafe levels.
• State and federal governments
recommend testing of each home in Pennsylvania
for radon.
• Despite recommendations by health
agencies, only 7% of new homes in U.S. are built with radon-resistant
features.
• Testing for radon when homes are sold
is voluntary in Pennsylvania.
• Radon-testing kits cost about $25;
radon-removal fixes — if high levels are found — usually cost less than $1,500.
• For more information, see www.depweb.state.pa.us,
then click on "Radon," or call toll-free 1-800-237-2366.
 
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