Radon levels on Galway’s radar

Thousands of householders in Galway city and county are potentially living at high risk from exposure to the cancer-causing radon gas.

Newly-updated radon maps from the Environmental Protection Agency show that large tranches of Galway are considered ‘high-risk’ – where one in five homes are likely to have high radon levels.

Radon is invisible, colourless and odourless but it is rated as a Group 1 carcinogen (causing cancer) – in the same category as tobacco smoke and asbestos. The gas is now being linked to 350 cancer deaths a year in the Republic of Ireland.

The radon high-risk area in Galway stretches from the city and Knocknacarra and eastwards across South Conamara, along the Mayo border and through North Galway and parts of East Galway and South Galway and back up to encompass Galway City.

Dr Mark Foley, a lecturer and researcher at NUI Galway, told the Connacht Tribune that the EPA’s map cannot be used to check individual exposure to radon gas.

“Galway might appear red, but that doesn’t mean that every house in Galway is going to have high radon levels. If you want to know what your exposure is within a house, you have to measure. Otherwise, you’re never going to know,” he said.

Find out where Galway’s highest radon levels are, with the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now – or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.