Under health estimated risk in Germany

The health risk from the radioactive Gas Radon in homes is from the point of view of the Federal office for radiation protection (BfS) in Germany are not sufficiently known.

“Radon is a serious risk for the health because after Smoking, Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer,” said BfS President, Inge Paulini. Many people don’t know.

It is often easy to protect. “But you have to know whether the own apartment of the elevated Radon values is affected. This can be achieved with measurements, easy to find,” said Paulini.

To not see, smell or taste

The noble gas Radon is produced in soil by the decay of uranium and Radium and can penetrate through the ground into the building. In addition, it can also be in the material contained in and released. It is not to see, to smell or to taste. Approximately five percent of all deaths from lung cancer in Germany go back to the BfS, according to Radon. A threshold value, below which the Gas is harmless, is not known.

For a study in “German medical journal” esteemed scientists in 2018, how many cancer cases could have been avoided. Therefore, would alone be able to this year about 3200 new cases due to Radon in indoor environments be avoided.

Radon decays after Inhalation in the lungs, where radioactive radiation is released. The Federal office for radiation protection recommends for citizens to ventilate regularly and leaks in the basement and ground floor to seal it, if a Radon exposure exists.

Radon measurement devices can be in different order, and then evaluate the data. The measurements of the costs of the BfS, according to depending on the provider, between 30 and 50 euros.

Exposure to Radon: Large regional differences

The radon exposure varies in Germany depending on how much uranium and Radium are in a Region present in the soil and how permeable it is. Increases the radon risk in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Thuringia and Saxony. (A map of the radon potential in Germany, you will find on this page of the Federal office for radiation protection, it allows only a rough estimation.)

In order to capture the Radon load in Germany’s interior spaces more precisely, the Federal office for radiation protection currently in a randomly selected house of Radon measurement devices to keep up. By the end of 2020, the Federal States have to designate areas in which, in many buildings, the reference value of 300 becquerels per cubic meter is exceeded, the so-called “radon prevention areas”. There is, for example, of workplaces in the ground floor or basement level to be the measure of obligation.