July 28, 2010

Short radon tests are not a reliable indicator of radon concentrations in your home and should not be used to decide whether remedial work is required.

The RPII have recently been contacted on a number of occasions regarding the usefulness of short term radon tests.  Most of these queries have come from the Galway area due to the visit of a company selling radon tests that take several hours.  In the light of this the RPII wishes to make the following observations on the usefulness of such tests.

A reliable radon test must be made over a minimum of 3 months.  This is because the rate at which radon enters a building can vary significantly from day to day.  Therefore only the results of a 3 month test can be compared to the Reference Level (200 Bq/m³) and can be used to decide whether remediation work is needed.  A test carried out over a shorter period, particularly over a number of hours or days, is not a reliable estimate of your radon risk and should not be used as a basis for deciding whether remediation work is needed.

A short term radon test can be useful as an early indicator of the success or otherwise of remediation work.  However, a 3 month test will still be ultimately needed to determine whether the work has been successful.

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