PITTSBURGH -- A Team 4 investigation finds more than half of all areas in western Pennsylvania have high levels of radon -- a cancer-causing gas.
More than 20,000 people a year die from lung cancer caused by radon, but many people living in communities with high radon levels are unaware of the problem.
We looked at radon readings for every ZIP code in western Pennsylvania. The Environmental Protection Agency says a radon level higher than 4 picocuries per liter means you have a potential problem.
Team 4 obtained records showing 57 percent of all western Pennsylvania ZIP codes have levels higher than 4, and some ZIP codes have an average as high as 40. But we've learned the state Department of Environmental Protection doesn't bother telling people they have a problem unless their score is 100.
The following report by Team 4 investigator Paul Van Osdol first aired July 6, 2009, on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.
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Watch Paul's ReportWelcome to Fox Chapel, well-known for luxurious homes sitting on quiet streets. Not so well-known are the high levels of cancer-causing radon gas. The average radon reading in the ZIP code containing Fox Chapel, Blawnox and O'Hara Township is 8.4 picocuries per liter -- more than twice the EPA's maximum safe level of 4.
Residents we talked to had no idea.
Barbara Costanzo: "I did not know that levels were that high in general in the area, and that certainly is a concern."
Lavina Sahni: "Definitely a cause for concern, since I didn't even know about it."
Other communities are even higher.
- The average radon level in Wexford is 9.1.
- Nearby Bradford Woods is 10.4.
- Evans City is 12 -- three times the EPA limit.
- An area of Butler averaged 13.
- Karns City, Butler County, was 16.
- Beallsville, near Belle Vernon: 40 -- 10 times the EPA level.
Those are averages. But there were individual houses that hit 604 in Coraopolis, 701 in Squirrel Hill and 857 in Clarion.
The head of the state Department of Environmental Protection's radiation office says he has seen household levels over 1,000.
David Allard, DEP radiation division: "We do have some houses that actually show up in these very, very high levels that you would expect to see in a uranium mine."
And he says the higher the radon level, the greater the risk of cancer.
Not only are many residents of high-radon areas unaware of the risks they face, many local officials are as well.
The mayor and borough manager in Bradford Woods told me they had no idea the average radon level here was more than twice the EPA limit. That's because nobody from the DEP ever bothered to tell them.
The DEP does not call homeowners unless a radon test is over 100 -- 25 times the EPA limit.
Van Osdol: "EPA says you're at risk if it's over 4. Then why do you only get involved if it's over 100?"
Allard: "It's just a cutoff."
Van Osdol: "Shouldn't there be more done to make sure these people know they have a problem?"
Allard: "We'd love to do more. It's funding. It all comes down to funding."
But that answer is not good enough for people living in high-radon areas.
Sandy Traver, Cheswick: "I'm not very happy about it finding out from you, basically."
Sahni: "They should do something about it. They should let people know what's going on, actually."
Regardless of the average level in a ZIP code, the DEP says the only way to really know the level in your home is to do a test -- either using store-bought kits or hiring a professional radon inspector like Tim Ellis. He says he can usually tell if a home will have a high radon reading just by the location.
Ellis: "The more elevated conditions seem to have a higher radon level."
But the only way really to know is to test.
Allard: "My recommendation is, everybody -- if they haven't tested their house, they should test their house."
So, let's say you do a test and your house has high radon levels. Then what do you do? You can install a mitigation system -- basically a pipe and a fan that blows the gas outside. That costs about $1,500.
We asked the DEP for more detailed records at the street or house level but they refused to turn them over.
More Radon Information:
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