What levels of radon are acceptable?
You must provide the answer to this question based on the following data and your personal risk tolerance. If you lead a normal life, live in spaces that average 4 pCi/L of radon, and if you are: (a) a never smoker, (b) an ex-smoker (c) a smoker, then your lifetime risk of getting lung cancer that is related to your radon exposure is about (a) 1 chance in 250; (b) 1 chance in 100; (c) 3 chances in 100. For comparison, substances in the food chain are regulated at levels that produce much lower risks. Usually food or drink is labeled contaminated if they produce a 1 in 100,000 lifetime chance of producing cancer. Most scientists believe that above about 10 pCi/L the risk associated with radon would increase in direct proportion with the radon concentration. Below this value, many believe that the risk decreases in direct proportion but that there could be a safe threshold value. We don’t know for sure what that value is or whether it exists.
