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Here are the topics, in
order, on Ken's show page...
CFL Hazard Issues—Thought
through?? …Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas)
Homemade Weed Killer
Radon ...Another Take
Septic Tips
Analyze Your Insulation
Federal Pacific Electric Panels
Polybutylene Water Pipe
Aluminum Wiring
Ken's "Little" Energy Saving Tips
CFL’s: http://youtube.com/watch?v=e-LOtKIIKcg
Weed Killer: Thanks to a
listener, Jean, who entered our tip of the Week contest with the following:
Combine one gallon of white vinegar (5%
acidity is ideal), one pound of salt (Morton salt) and eight drops of
dishwashing soap. Shake well, pour into an ordinary spray bottle
and begin using (be sure to label the
spray bottle).
This is non-toxic to people and pets. Total cost $2.00. This works just as well as Round-up at a
significant cost savings.
CAUTION: Do not spray near roots of trees, shrubs, turf, or
perennials you want to keep, because it sterilizes the soil for a while.
The Radon Issue
After reading
the very detailed article about radon in the Gazette last Sunday –
followed by Mike Biles’ and Charles J. Robinove’s very thoughtful
and accurate letters on Tuesday, Aug. 29 – I decided to weigh in on the
discussion to give Mike’s and Charles’ letters added
credibility.
I have been lecturing about this topic for almost 20
years, ever since Mr. Stanley Watras set off the alarms at the Limerick
Nuclear Generating Station in Pottstown,
Pa., on his way to work.
A quick check of his house found radon levels off the chart, almost 300 times
the EPA action level of 4 picocuries per liter. That led to a classic
EPA quote, “Radon, the environmental problem posing the highest risk of
cancer.” That quote seemed so ludicrous and so defied common
sense that I started my own research into the problem because I knew that
this had to be bad science.
Admittedly, my research was limited to the
scientific literature and the few studies that had been done around the world
because doing radon research on human subjects is impossible. Let me
start with a little background on radon. It is the natural decay
product of radium, which is in the line of the natural decay sequence from
uranium, a naturally occurring radioactive element that has been with us
since the planet formed almost 5 billion years ago. Logic tells us that
life on earth has dealt with this background radiation for as long as there
has been life on earth.
That also means that we have adjusted
physiologically to that presence of radiation, since it is everywhere on this
planet. I for one do not want anyone trying to lower my radon levels
because I enjoy the health that natural background radiation provides.
By the way, 54% of all natural background radiation comes from radon, and 27%
comes from all other natural radioactive elements.
The literature actually showed a couple of classic
-- but flawed -- studies about the impact of radon on human health: one on a
population of rats exposed to various levels of radon aimed at simulating
working conditions for miners; the other studied cancer rates among uranium
miners. The rat studies actually showed longer lives for several
populations of rats exposed to fairly high levels of radon and none of the
same kind of cancer the miners had. The miner studies were deeply
flawed because only 16 of the 478 miners studied were non-smokers!
Mike’s comments about the international fix to
this problem were right on target. To expand on the Canadian action he
mentions, for example, the government there tried to correlate high levels of
radon with lung cancer rates in all of their major cities and found just the
opposite or no correlation. In some cities, high radon levels actually
showed lower-than-average lung cancer rates. So, they gave up, changed
the action level to 21.8 picocuries per liter, and the problem went
away.
There is an ongoing attempt to scare people about
the high levels of radon in Colorado
compared to the national average. Well, there’s a good reason for
that higher average. The Rocky Mountains are only about 35 million
years old, very “young” on a geological time scale, so the higher
natural background radiation comes from the “freshly turned
ground” as the Rockies were formed and exposed higher levels of
uranium, hence radon. But, if the average radon levels here are about
17 picocuries per liter, that is still less than the action level the
Canadians set.
Let me put the Colorado average radon level in
perspective. Part of the problem the EPA faces is the “Linear
No-Threshold” concept that comes from The Delaney Clause, sponsored by
U.S. Senator James Delaney and approved by Congress in 1951. It simply
presumes that the detrimental effects of radiation are proportional to the
dose, and that there is no dose at which the effects of radiation are not
detrimental. I often wondered where the EPA got the action level of 4
picocuries per liter. It turns out that it is the lowest level that can
be measured accurately, so the EPA is clearly using The Delaney Clause to
make their case.
Now, along comes a relatively underused concept that
has been around for about 100 years, but has not received the attention and
credibility it deserves until recently. The concept is called
“hormesis” and is simply defined as the “stimulating and
protective effect of small doses of radiation,” also called adaptive
response. There have been a number of studies done on Nagasaki survivors with respect to cancer
risk verses radiation dose received, and they clearly show that there is a
point at which the risk is at its lowest, and that point is not at zero
radiation! In fact, at zero radiation, factoring out the background,
the cancer risk goes back up.
If we carry that over to radon, there is some level
of radon background radiation that is optimum for living organisms, and I
will bet that that level is not 4 picocuries per liter. I’m
guessing it’s somewhere near the “healthy” level we find in
Colorado at
about 15-20 picocuries per liter. It’s interesting that we have
one of the lowest lung cancer rates in America, but that’s
probably due more to our healthy lifestyle and culture than it is to radon
levels.
I should also comment on Jim Burkhart’s
response to the Letters to the Editor because I know Jim. He’s a
good physicist and great teacher. I sit on the science advisory board
at UCCS and have come to know and respect Jim. I’m sorry he
discounted the two Aug. 29 letters, because I believe both Mike and Charles
were on target with their comments. I take no exception to what Jim
presents in terms of distribution of radon levels and the other points he
makes. What Jim has failed to address is the crux of my point:
what is the right radon level for action?
There is scarce physiological data on the subject,
and I’m compelled to believe the hormesis concept because it makes good
logical sense and is backed by decent scientific studies. No one is
going to convince me to spend thousands of dollars to fix a
non-problem. If the EPA were to do the right thing and change its
action level, all of this discussion about threats to people’s
well-being and impact on real estate values would cease.
As a final thought, I once gave my presentation on
radon to a group of folks at the University
of Wyoming. After
the talk, an elderly rancher came to me to tell me that there was an
abandoned mine a few miles from Laramie
where folks would pay to spend time in the mine to cure their aches and
pains. Guess what was in the mine? Radon.
Hans J. Mueh, BGen (Ret), USAF, PhD
Former Professor and Head, Department of Chemistry, USAF Academy
______________________________________________________________________
Thanks to
Arrowhead Septic of Colorado Springs, here are a few tips to keep your system
functioning as designed:
* Spread laundry loads throughout the week.
* No harsh chemicals into the system, like solvents
or paint.
* Use disposers sparingly
* Do not flush paper towels, cigarettes, diapers,
gum, feminine products, grease or condoms.
* Don't discharge output from your water softener
into the system. Salt kills friendly bacteria in the
tank.
* Keep trees and bushes off the leach field.
* Don't drive on the leach field.
* Keep ground water away from the leach field.
* No extra so-called enzymes or bacteria additives.
* Have the system checked and serviced regularly.
__________________________________________
Here's a link to let
you analyze your home's insulation compared to the ideal. Just enter
your zip code and some basic data:
http://www.ornl.gov/~roofs/Zip/ZipHome.html
________________________________________
Concerned
about Federal Pacific electric panels? Click on:
_____________________________________________________
http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/fpepanel.htm
If you have that gray,
plastic water pipe--called POLYBUTYLENE--that was popular in the 80's, you
need to know some of the troubles associated with it. Here's a link:
http://www.pbpipe.com/index1.htm
__________________________________________
If your house has
aluminum wiring (popular from the mid 60's to the mid 70's), don't ignore
it. Here's a link to give you some perspective:
http://www.inspect-ny.com/aluminum/aluminum.htm
Energy
Savings...The Little Things
We hope you've done as many of the
"big things" as you can afford to save heating dollars at your
house, like:
* 12” to 14” total of blown insulation
in the attic (an R-value of at least 38)
* Replaced old single-paned windows with new vinyl
units fabricated with low-e glass.
* Added combination storm/screen door units (wood
doors only, steel or fiberglass doors don’t need them).
* Replaced an old furnace with a new one (required to be
rated at least 80%).
If so, you're probably realizing a 30 to 50%
savings--if your house is older than about 15 years and you'd done
nothing. The coming natural gas and propane price hikes beg
for some additional savings. This is a list of fairly small (marginal) energy
savers which, taken in the aggregate, could save another 10-20 % of that
ever-increasing utility bill of yours.
NOTE: “Payback” means how long will it take to pay for the
item before you start realizing savings.
1. Install an electronic day/night setback
thermostat--but don't set it back more than 10
degrees in each cycle.
Cost: $30 to $100 (the lower priced models are just fine)
Easy to install—just reconnect the red and white wires
Savings: 2% to 5% Payback: about 1 year
2. Insulate that big garage door with
Styrofoam panels.
Cost: Less than $50. An easy 2 person job. Savings:
1% or 2%, depending on lifestyle. Payback: probably a year or
two.
3. Wrap your water heater with a
“blanket”—especially if it’s electric—and
gas-fired ones, too, if they are in a cool, like a garage or crawl
space. And turn the temperature down to 120º. Cost $15.
Nothing to it. Savings: Perhaps a few dollars a month, but
that’s year round! Payback: Less than one year
4. Cover all accessible hot water pipes with split
Styrofoam pipe insulation. Cost: $10 to $20.
Just snap on the pieces. Savings: See #3 above
5. Install glass fireplace doors in an
older wood burning fireplace, especially if it has a retrofitted gas
log set. Cost: $100, give or take. Easy to install if you
know about masonry anchors. Savings: Several heating
dollars per month + a perceived comfort benefit. Payback: Several
heating seasons.
6. Insulate the floor over the
crawl space, even if there is insulation on the exterior. Use 6" (R-19)
batts without paper. Also, close all but one crawl space and attic
vent; but check to see that you're not squeezing down any required combustion
air source for the furnace or water heater.
Cost: $50 to $75 depending on the size. Wear
protective clothing. Savings: About the same as the thermostat.
The following three items are hard to quantify, but they’re
important; their principal effect is to add to your personal
comfort and thereby eliminate the drafty feelings which cause you to turn up
the thermostat.
7. Install foam pads under plug and switch
plates on exterior walls Cost: $10 or so. Just
you and a screwdriver.
8. Make sure that any exterior flapper
vents--bath fans, range or dryer--close completely when not in use.
9. Add window coverings--like pleated or
foil-backed shades--to trap a layer of insulating air next to the window
10. If it stands still, Caulk it! That
includes a renewal each year around all windows and doors, as our dry climate
and hot sun shrink caulking beads.
11. Also, if there’s a gap at the bottom
of your siding where it meets the foundation, stuff it with pieces of
fiberglass insulation.
In the electrical category: use fluorescent light bulbs in lamps and
other fixtures. Although they’re a little pricey at first, they
last 10 or more times longer than incandescent styles, and they use
about 40% less energy for the same light intensity. If you can afford
to replace all or most of the bulbs in your house, you could whack maybe $15
to $20 a month off your electric bill.
How to figure paybacks:-
It’s an easy calculation.
Let’s say you’re considering a new furnace. It costs
$1500, but you increase the heating system’s efficiency from, say 50%
to 80% (the minimum now required for new furnaces). So each month
you’ll save 30% on your gas bill. Now we have to figure how long
it takes to make back the $1500.
30% of a $150 monthly gas bill (minus $25 for the water heater) X 6 months’ heating season =
$225.
$1500 divided by $225 = 6 -2/3 heating seasons—not a bad deal.
So, in less than 7 years, you get a monthly
“pay raise” of $37.50, and that’s if fuel prices stay the
same---and what do you think the odds of that are ?!?
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