Bob Lewis from the Bureau of Radiation protection, a division of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and Robert C. Smith from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (PA DCNR - Retired) gave a presentation, “The Science and Geology of Radon in PA,” on Wednesday, March 27, 2019 on the Bloomsburg University campus.
Mr Lewis began the presentation by stating the radon is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is naturally occuring, but also radioactive and carcinogenic. An estimated 40 percent of Pennsylvania homes have radon levels above Environmental Protection Agency's action guideline of 4 picocuries per liter. He then went on to speak about how radon levels can be tested and if the levels are too high, how a radon mitigation system is used to address the problem.
Dr. Smith,professional geologist, presented the geology of radon in PA. He spoke of uranium, thorium, and radium levels (which all decay to produce radon) in soil and talked about the geological landforms, soil composition, and rock formations that have attributed to the high levels of radon in PA. He specifically focused on an area of southeast Lehigh County with an extremely high radon concentration.
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