A house in Co Kerry has been exposing its residents to the equivalent of 10,000 chest x-rays a year - a level that would not be tolerated by workers at the Sellafield nuclear plant, a national monitoring body has said.
Dr Ann McGarry, RPII
The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII), the national body responsible for monitoring such health hazards, found record levels of radon gas at the house - more than 40 times the acceptable level of the naturally occurring, but carcinogenic gas.
It is the third highest radon gas level found to date in a home in Ireland, the RPII said. The householder had measured the radon gas in the house using special equipment and the average level was 8,000 becquerels per cubic metre. The acceptable level is just 200 becquerels.
The radiation dose received from living in the house is equivalent to receiving 27 chest x-rays per day or 10,000 per year.
Radon originates from the decay of uranium in rocks and soils. It is colourless, odourless and tasteless and can only be detected using special detectors.
When radon surfaces in the open air, it is quickly diluted to harmless concentrations, but when it enters an enclosed space, such as a house, it can accumulate to "unacceptably high concentrations", the RPII said.
Radon is linked to up-to 200 lung cancer deaths in Ireland every year. For people who smoke, or who have smoked, the risk from radon is much greater than for people who never smoked.
RPII chief exectutive Dr Ann McGarry, said the identification of the house in Kerry was a further reminder that many people are living with very dangerous levels of radiation in their homes.
"It is unnecessary for members of the public to put themselves at risk from radon. Homeowners need to take this matter seriously and measure radon levels in their homes to ensure that they and their families are not at risk.
"Where there is a need to reduce levels, remediation is relatively cheap compared to other household repairs and resolves the situation immediately."
Dr Ann McGarry, RPII
The RPII estimates that there are around 91,000 homes in Ireland with high levels of radon gas, but to date it has only identified 3,900 of them.
"People are receiving radiation doses that would not be tolerated by workers in Sellafield and it is unacceptable that they may be exposed to such dangerous levels," said Dr McGarry.
Maps are available on the RPII's website identifying areas of the country most at risk from high radon levels.
The south east and west of the country are of particular concern, but nearly a third of the country is considered to be a high-radon area, according to the radiation institute.
The RPII provides test equipment to allow householders measure the levels of radon in their homes.
Labour Party spokesman on nuclear safety, Emmet Stagg, called on the Government to restore a grants scheme he introduced in the 1990s to allow householders take preventative measures against radon gas.
"Were it not for the RPII continually highlighting the excessive radon levels that exist in certain parts of the country, we would be totally in the dark as to the threat of this silent killer," he said.
"The Government has repeatedly refused to take any sort of pro-active approach, including the provision of radon-testing kits for households in affected areas."
"Whilst the RPII is clearly doing its job in publicising the harmful effects of radon gas and its prevalence in Irish homes through their information campaign, It never ceases to amaze me that the Government continues to politely ignore the preventable deaths of 200 Irish citizens in this manner."