Radon Monitoring

[mikem]

Many cavers also smoked (including underground) back then, so proving any correlation is nigh on impossible

 

[alanw]

Many cavers also smoked (including underground) back then, so proving any correlation is nigh on impossible

Double Risk: How Radon and Smoking Fuel Lung Cancer

Radon and smoking are both known causes of lung cancer, but when someone is exposed to both, the results can be deadly.

www.lung.org

Radon and smoking are each dangerous on their own, but together the risk is higher than the sum of the effects taken separately. Research shows that for individuals who smoke, the risk of radon-related lung cancer increases about 10 times.

 

[Lankyman]

Radon and smoking are each dangerous on their own, but together the risk is higher than the sum of the effects taken separately.

Add in the effects of beer and greasy breakfasts and lots of cavers are well stuffed

 

[DCA]

It's nothing to do with landowner liability. Landowners are protected by the "Volenti non fit injuria" principle. It's to do with BCA liability; the BCA has funded the monitoring and therefore is the over-reaching organisation that has to implement forwarding the information which results therefrom to its membership*; publishing it (arguably) covers that but if the readings are egregious that may be an insufficient stance to take.

Just to correct your assumption that BCA has funded this programme of radon monitoring, you should know that they have not paid a penny towards it. Funding has been provided by a donation from a caving club (thank you CCPC) and by two private individual donations. That has covered the cost of the monitors and any expenses claims from volunteers will be paid out of DCA general funds.

Mike Higgins
DCA Vice-Chair

 

[Boy Engineer]

Just to correct your assumption that BCA has funded this programme of radon monitoring, you should know that they have not paid a penny towards it. Funding has been provided by a donation from a caving club (thank you CCPC) and by two private individual donations. That has covered the cost of the monitors and any expenses claims from volunteers will be paid out of DCA general funds.

Mike Higgins
DCA Vice-Chair

Or as Pete K would say “noli ad conclusiones properare”. I’ll get my toga…

 

[cap n chris]

Just to correct your assumption that BCA has funded this programme of radon monitoring, you should know that they have not paid a penny towards it. Funding has been provided by a donation from a caving club (thank you CCPC) and by two private individual donations. That has covered the cost of the monitors and any expenses claims from volunteers will be paid out of DCA general funds.

Mike Higgins
DCA Vice-Chair

Thank you for the clarification Mike; that's good to know and mea culpa maxima for the presumption! Be aware (you probably already are) that once you send off the monitors the organiser(s) are on a fixed path with HPA/HSE and if the readings are indeed above 300bq/m3 that event becomes a temporal moment with consequences and will mean registration of the sites with ownership/overseership details being a legal requirement with HSE. It's great that people are on board with the topic. Angels fear to tread. You're angels. Well done for pursuing it.

 

[Bob Mehew]

if the readings are indeed above 300bq/m3 that event becomes a temporal moment with consequences and will mean registration of the sites with ownership/overseership details being a legal requirement with HSE.

I think you are mixing up the legal requirements of the regulations which are placed upon employers or self employed persons with the commercial requirements of the UKHSA. The UKHSA only require the location as a condition of the contract. Whereas an employer / self employed person has to register with the HSE if the 300 Bq/m^3 level is exceeded (when averaged over a year but that's a point of detail). Presuming the landowner is not working in the cave, then they need do nothing. (I'm assuming there has not been a change in the past few years from when the last major survey was conducted which I have not heard about.) And mines are different again.

I can understand your view point, the topic of radon and work is complex which is why it took us until the 3rd edition of Radon Underground to include advice to cavers at work in a cave.

 

[AR]

Or as Pete K would say “noli ad conclusiones properare”. I’ll get my toga…

I'll see that and raise you a "Pedicabo hoc pro ludo milites"...

Going back onto topic, the places I suspect we really don't want to know what radon levels are like are the soughs driven through shale that no longer have ventilation circuits at their further reaches, like Cromford Sough beyond the Bedehouse branch - Stoke and Hillcarr also spring to mind but they're not generally accessible so most cavers won't be spending much time there!

Other causes of lung cancer have also been raised in this thread so I'll throw in another one, which is asbestos which worries me a lot more than radon given the corrugated "fibre cement" roof of the barns we keep our ponies in, and I've seen the cascade of fine particles in the light when I've had cause to touch it.

 

[mikem]

Yes, asbestos is generally no problem at all, until you touch it...