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Evaluating and Assessing Radon Testing in Multifamily Housing.
Michael E Kitto1, Calvin Murphy, Sherry L Dixon
1New York State Department of Health and University at Albany, Albany New York (Dr Kitto); Allied Radon Services Inc, Mt Vernon, Illinois (Mr Murphy); National Center for Healthy Housing, Columbia, Maryland (Drs Dixon and Jacobs and Mr Wilson); and American Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists, Hendersonville, North Carolina (Ms Malone).
Current radon testing protocols for multifamily housing are insufficient. Testing only 10-25% of units misses many high radon levels, necessitating 100% testing for accurate radon mitigation assessment.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Public Health
- Building Science
Background:
- Radon mitigation in multifamily housing requires reliable testing procedures.
- Current protocols for testing ground-contact units vary significantly (10% to 100%).
Purpose of the Study:
- To estimate the probability of failing to detect units with elevated radon levels when not all ground-contact units are tested.
- To inform optimal radon testing strategies in multifamily buildings.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of data from 7892 ground-contact units in 687 US multifamily buildings.
- Application of hypergeometric and Monte Carlo statistical methods.
- Evaluation of confidence in identifying radon levels of 4 picoCuries/liter (pCi/L) or more based on varying test percentages.
Main Results:
- Approximately 15% of tested units exceeded the EPA action level of 4 pCi/L.
- Current federal protocols (10% and 25% testing) failed to identify 47%-69% and 32%-46% of units with elevated radon, respectively.
- Testing 90% of units still missed up to 4% of high-radon units.
Conclusions:
- 100% testing of ground-contact units is required to achieve 95% confidence in identifying all units with radon levels of 4 pCi/L or more in buildings up to 20 units.
- For the majority of multifamily buildings, comprehensive radon testing of all ground-contact units is recommended.
- Accurate radon testing is crucial for effective radon mitigation and occupant protection.
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