Radon alert as house 45 times over safe level

HOMEOWNERS ARE being urged to check for the cancer-causing gas radon, after a house in Co Tipperary was found to contain 45 times the accepted level of the gas.

Maps indicate that almost one-third of the country is deemed a high radon area, with the southeast and west highlighted as problem areas. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that has no smell, taste or colour. It seeps up from below ground level and becomes trapped in badly ventilated buildings.

The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland estimates that 91,000 homes in Ireland have high radon levels, but only 4,000 have been identified so far.

Dr Tony Colgan, of the institute, asked householders to test their homes. "People are receiving radiation doses that would not be tolerated by workers in Sellafield, and it is unacceptable that they are exposed to such dangerous levels."

A peak reading of 45 times the acceptable level of radon was recorded in a room of a home near Ballyporeen, Co Tipperary.

The problem has since been addressed with a radon sump.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times