Radon in Red Lake

Radon in Red Lake

For the past few months, the Red Lake Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Air Program and the Red Lake Housing Authority have partnered in an effort to improve the indoor air quality of homes. Together, with the help of a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant, these programs have currently tested a total of 25 homes for radon and plan to mitigate those homes that were found to have radon levels above the EPA’s action level.A 3-day hands-on mitigation training course was held in early May in preparation for mitigations. This project is expected to continue into the fall.

Testing

For this project, short-term, envelope-style radon test kits were used; the test kits were placed in 25 homes in order to measure radon levels. Kits were placed in each of the homes and left untouched for 3 days, after which they were picked up and then sent to a certified lab for analysis.

Although there is no known safe level of radon gas in the home, the EPA and Minnesota Department of Health set the recommended action level for radon at 4.0 pCi/L – which means that if a tested level is over this amount, something should be done to reduce radon in the home.

Results of testing

Of the 25 tests completed, there were 19 valid samples and 6 invalid samples taken. Sampling will be repeated where invalid samples were taken. In the set of 19 valid samples, only 3 of the samples had radon levels above the action level and will be retested with long-term tests to confirm that radon levels within the home are above 4 pCi/L.If long-term tests confirm that any of the 3 samples that had high short-term test readings have radon levels above 4 pCi/L, the home will be mitigated for radon.

Radon mitigation/hands-on training

Mitigation techniques may be used to either prevent radon from entering the home or to reduce radon levels once it has entered the home. Methods that may be used include: sealing cracks in the home’s foundation, ventilation, subslab suction and submembrane suction (for crawl spaces). During the 3-day, hands-on mitigation training course attended by Housing Authority staff, techniques for subslab suction and submembrane suction were discussed and both systems were installed in homes to practice the techniques that will be used for future mitigations.

The goal of mitigating houses will be to lower radon levels, so that levels are below the EPA’s action level. To ensure that this is the case, follow-up testing will be conducted using short-term test kits.

For more information

For more information on the dangers of radon, visit the Minnesota Department of Health website http://www.health.state.mn.us or contact Jennifer Godwin at the Red Lake (DNR) (218) 679-1618 or the Housing Authority.

If you would like to have your home tested for radon, a limited number of free test kits are available through the DNR Air Program – for more information contact Jennifer Godwin at (218) 679-1618. Also, test kits can be purchased at most hardware or home supply stores and can also be purchased online. Testing is easy - just follow the instructions on the package.