National plan needed to protect homes from radon gas, says institute

RADON GAS is a serious public health issue in Ireland and needs a national strategy to tackle it, the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) has said.

Radon accounts for more than half (56 per cent) of the average annual radiation dose received by Irish people, according to the institute.

Around 0.4 per cent of it is caused by man-made radiation from places such as Sellafield and Chernobyl, despite public fears about the safety of the nuclear industry.

Just under 14 per cent is caused by medical diagnostic tools such as X-rays. Other forms of natural radiation made up the rest, the institute’s annual report has stated.

The RPII believes that exposure to radon is linked to 200 deaths a year from lung cancer, making it the second biggest cause of the disease after cigarette smoking.

The institute says it has only been able to identify 4,314 of the estimated 91,000 homes nationwide which have radon levels above the acceptable safe level and that a national strategy is needed to identify and protect houses and businesses which are affected.

Of the houses already identified with a radon problem, 262 had levels five times higher than the accepted safe limit.

RPII chief executive Dr Ann McGarry said the strategy needed to be led by the Department of the Environment and involve the institute, the Health Service Executive (HSE) and local authorities.

“A small institute like us cannot address the issue alone. It points to the need for a national radon strategy, co-ordinated at national level, but with key local organisations playing a significant role,” she said.

She cited the example of Cork County Council who moved quickly during the year to deal with the problems of very high levels of radon in homes in Mallow. “It is this type of co-operation and joined up thinking which will help reduce the radiation and the risk of lung cancer.”

The Department of the Environment says a draft radon plan exists and it is adopting a “multi-agency approach” to the problem, but parts of the strategy are too expensive to be implemented in the economic climate.