Alarming number of homes in Carlow and Kilkenny have dangerously high radon levels

Some homes across Carlow and Kilkenny contain 12 times the acceptable level of a dangerous radioactive gas.

Today is European Radon Day ,and experts are warning locals to make sure they don’t have high levels of the naturally occurring gas in our houses.

Radon is colourless and odorless, but is the second most common cause of lung cancer after smoking. It kills close to 300 people each year in Ireland.

EPA scientist Alison Dowdall has been telling KCLR that the risk is particularly high in Carlow and parts of Kilkenny.

“It’s very easy to do a radon test in your home, to find out the amount of this pollutant that you have in your house. It’s also easy to fix a radon problem if you find that you do have a high level. We know there are parts of both counties that do have high levels, in fact most of Carlow is a high-risk area. One in five of the homes we test there would have a high radon level, but Kilkenny is also effected” she explained.

“Some of the highest values that we found in Carlow and Kilkenny would be about 12 times over the acceptable level of radon. For people living in those houses, that would be the equivalent of getting about 8 chest X-rays every day, so it’s a significant amount of radiation to be exposed to in your home. Many families don’t know they have a radon problem.”