Public exposure to radioactive radon gas must be must be treated as a public health issue given the number of deaths associated with it. Up to 200 people a year die of lung cancer due to exposure to high levels of radon gas, a Dáil committee has heard.
The Joint Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht today met Prof William Reville, the chairman-designate of the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland. Prof Reville answered questions related to public exposure to radon and to the radiation coming from phone masts and power lines, amongst other issues.
He would treat the radon risk as a priority during his chairmanship, Prof Reville told them. It warranted action given the high death toll associated with it. It ranked amongst other public health issues such as road deaths and suicide, he told the committee.
The gas formed naturally in the ground and drifted away harmlessly on the wind. It could become trapped in buildings, however, including housing where it greatly increased a person’s exposure to naturally occurring radiation.
“Radon should be treated as a priority, a public health issue given we have one of the highest indoor radon levels in Europe,” Prof Reville said after the meeting. Yet only 2.5 per cent of the entire housing stock has been tested for the gas.
Long term exposure was the problem, he said. “Parents should be concerned about this for the protection of their children. And the risks are multiplied if you are a smoker,” he said.
Another major issue for the institute was the storage of thousands of small radiation sources across the country. These represented a low but very real risk, he said.
There were more than 3,500 of these small sources on the institute’s books, most of them held in third level institutions and in hospitals. Some were used in research while others were used in medical diagnosis, he said.
A “national implementation committee” had been formed to deal with these, and the Department of Education and Skills had made money available to begin shipping third level sources abroad for proper disposal. The Department of Health had yet to provide funding but this was in train, Prof Reville said.
Non-ionising radiation given off by mobile phone masts and by high tension power lines was also discussed. The committee heard that no State body was responsible for this kind of radiation and said it would recommend that responsibility for the area should be given to the Institute.
The committee said it would urge the Government to act on radon and also to fund a secure repository for unwanted radiation sources.
William Reville is a professor in the Biochemistry department and public awareness of science officer at UCC. He is also a columnist with The Irish Times