News Center Maine interviews Hess for report on radon testing at home
News Center Maine interviewed C. Thomas Hess, a professor of physics at the University of Maine, for a report on new recommendations for radon testing in Maine homes. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, radon — an odorless, invisible, naturally occurring, radioactive gas — is responsible for about 21,000 lung cancer deaths every year. Maine CDC officials recommend residents of Maine, where 12 of the 16 counties are considered “high air radon areas,” test their home’s air and water for radon every three to five years. “You can’t say, ‘Well this was caused by some mistake.’ The only mistake is we live over soil which has radon in it,” said Hess, who has been researching radon since the 1970s. “Radon in air is going to come in through a couple of different ways. Building materials, through the basement, cracks in the floor; and it can come in through water,” said Hess. Homeowners can use inexpensive test kits, or they can hire a professional to determine whether there are dangerous levels of radon. Aeration systems or activated carbon filters can help with radon in water, and opening windows or using an air-to-air heat exchanger can help with radon in the air.