Georgia County Government - September 2008 - (Page 42)

According to the EPA, the following Georgia counties have the highest potential for radon: Cobb, Fulton, DeKalb and Gwinnett. However, all North Georgia counties have a moderate to high potential for radon. EXTENSION continued from page 41 The only way to know the radon level in your home is to test for it.” Through a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant, free radon test kids are available to Georgia homeowners from their local UGA Extension office. In the five years since their program’s inception, 22,000 test kits have been distributed. Each kit comes with an envelope containing activated charcoal. It should be hung for three days in the lowest occupied level of a home. They should be hung near the center of a room, two feet to six feet above the floor. Bedrooms or family rooms are the best rooms to test because those rooms are used most often. “There’s always going to be a higher reading closer to the dirt,” Bennett said. “However, if you don’t spend any time in your basement, don’t test there.” After the envelope has hung for three full days, the test kit should be mailed immediately to a laboratory because the radioactive substance in it decays quickly. This will insure a more accurate result. Within 10 days, the homeowner will receive a report via mail or e-mail. If the first test results show a high reading, a second test is recommended to get an average of the two. “We provide a $6.99 coupon for the second test,” Bennett said. If there are children in the home, they are at greater risk of radon exposure. For example, radon gas at a 2-foot-tall child’s breathing level is higher than that of a 6-foot-tall adult’s level. “Children breathe twice as rapidly as adults. A child’s lungs are smaller and their breathing level is closer to the floor because of body size,” Chenhall explained. Because radon decays naturally from uranium, found in granite rock, and seeps out of the ground and into buildings, radon test results will never be 0. The average indoor level is 1.3 picocuries per liter (pCi/L). Any test that measures 4 pCi/L or higher requires action. The national average is one out of every 15 homes will have high radon. In North Georgia, the rate is two to three times the national average or approximately 14 percent to 20 percent of the homes have elevated radon. According to the EPA, the following Georgia counties have the highest potential for radon: Cobb, Fulton, DeKalb and Gwinnett. However, all North Georgia counties have a moderate to high potential for radon. When required, mitigation can usually be done at relatively low cost. Normally, mitigation is completed by installing an inline fan and ventilation pipe extending from underneath the home’s foundation to above the roofline, where the radon gas is discharged. “The system essentially sucks air from beneath the footprint of the home and vents it above the roof line,” Bennett said. Current average cost for fixing a home for radon is around $1,800. “That may sound expensive, but compared to the cost of a human life, it’s not high,” she said. “After all, how do you put a value on a human life? And you have to think about the high cost of medical care for lung cancer.” If you are building a new home, a passive mitigation system can be installed for $300 to $500. Georgia currently has 10 certified radon mitigators trained to correct radon problems. A list of certified For More Information For more information on the radon education program, visit www.gafamilies.com/housing/radon. To order a free radon test kit from your local county Extension office, call 800-ASK-UGA1. Architecture Engineering Program Management Partners with Georgia County Governments Jails - Courthouses - Municipal Buildings Public Safety Facilities - Civic & Cultural Centers Government Offices - Parks and Recreation Land Planning and Urban Design ROSSER INTERNATIONAL, INC. www.rosser.com 524 West Peachtree St., NW Atlanta, GA 30308 404 876 3800 42 GEORGIA 367905_Rosser.indd 1 COUNTY GOVERNMENT 8/20/08 11:05:40 AM http://www.gafamilies.com/housing/radon http://www.rosser.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Georgia County Government - September 2008

Georgia County Government - September 2008 Contents President’s Message County Matters Cobb County: Quality of Life is Job No. 1 Innovative Transportation Financing in Georgia Drive Your Fleet into the Next Generation of Efficiency, Profits Spotlight: Georgia Technology Authority Media Productions GEMA News: Hurricane Season Could Cause Natural Gas Spike GDEcD News: Communities Receive Funds to Develop Tourism Assets Georgia’s Grand Old Courthouses: Upson County Extension News: Radon: Georgia’s Silent Danger Research Corner: Conserving Fuel Costs in Your County Staff News County Parade Index of Advertisers

Georgia County Government - September 2008

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