State Health Officials Will Choose 1,000 Households for Radon Study

State health officials this month will mail letters to about 5,000 residents of Ventura County and portions of Los Angeles County asking them to participate in a study to determine the extent of radon, a radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer, in the region.

A total of 1,000 households will be chosen for the survey, which will encompass Ventura County and adjoining areas of Los Angeles County, including Agoura, Pacific Palisades, Westwood, Hollywood and much of the San Fernando Valley.

Kenneth W. Kizer, director of the state Department of Health Services, ordered the study in October after his department was informed of the results of a yearlong survey by the The Times.

Recommended Limits

The Times study found that the chances of exceeding recommended radon limits were higher than the Southern California average in a fast-growing southeastern Ventura County area that includes Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Moorpark. While Kizer called the Ventura County results only “mildly elevated” and relatively low in comparison to other U.S. areas, he ordered a study that would be more comprehensive.

The $40,000 survey was to begin last fall but was delayed because of difficulties in finding funding, said Steven Hayward, manager of the state Department of Health Services’ indoor air quality program. Eventually, funds were trimmed from other programs in the department’s budget to pay for the study, he said.

About 800 homes in Ventura County will begin the yearlong test beginning in June, Hayward said, along with 200 in homes in adjoining areas of Los Angeles County.

Hayward said residents’ names were randomly chosen from property tax rolls in Ventura County and from Department of Motor Vehicle records in Los Angeles County. State health officials will choose a geographically representative sample of 1,000 homes from the responses they receive and mail radon measuring devices to residents to put in their homes, he said.

“The more people that respond the better our sample will be,” Hayward said. “But people shouldn’t just call in to volunteer because we’re only using homes that have been randomly chosen.”

The exact location of the 1,000 homes and the identity of residents will be confidential, Hayward said.

The state’s survey comes at a time of national concern over the threat posed by the odorless, colorless gas. Radon, which is produced by the natural decay of uranium, is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States.

In September, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency joined the surgeon general’s office in issuing a national health advisory urging virtually all homeowners in the country to test their residences for the gas, which is found in soils everywhere. Kizer, however, pointed out that state testing was under way and said it was too early for his department to recommend that everyone test.

Because of slight differences in air pressure inside a house and outdoors, radon gas can be drawn into the house much like smoke is drawn up a fireplace chimney. The gas enters the house through cracks in concrete slab foundations, openings around plumbing and elsewhere.

Disclosure Law

But California law requires home sellers to disclose to potential buyers anything they know that affects the habitability or marketability of the property. However, Hayward said homes with radon readings above the EPA’s recommended limit of 4 picocuries per liter of air could be modified for “a few hundred to a couple of thousand dollars” to reduce the gas to safe levels.

The survey will involve three times as many homes as the state is already monitoring for radon throughout California. The current survey of 360 homes is being conducted by the Department of Health Services and the state Air Resources Board.

RADON TESTING AREAS

* Ventura Co.: 800 homes selected from throughout the entire county.

* Los Angeles Co.: 200 homes selected from within the communities of Agoura Hills, Bel-Air, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Canoga Park, Chatsworth, Encino, Hollywood, Mission Hills, Newhall, Pacific Palisades, Saugus, Sherman Oaks, Tarzana, Topanga, Valencia, Westwood and Woodland Hills.