Health & Wellbeing

Global map of radioactive gas pulls data from a network of sensors in users' homes

Global map of radioactive gas pulls data from a network of sensors in users' homes
Airthings pulls radon readings from its distributed network of home sensors
Airthings pulls radon readings from its distributed network of home sensors
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Airthings pulls radon readings from its distributed network of home sensors
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Airthings pulls radon readings from its distributed network of home sensors
Europe and North America are the two continents with the greatest density of data
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Europe and North America are the two continents with the greatest density of data
Installed devices in Oceania are few and far between
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Installed devices in Oceania are few and far between
Africa is short of Airthings sensors for the moment
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Africa is short of Airthings sensors for the moment
Airthings devices are also somewhat lacking in Asia
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Airthings devices are also somewhat lacking in Asia
The map also has little to offer in the way of data from South America
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The map also has little to offer in the way of data from South America
The map obfuscates precise location to protect users' privacy
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The map obfuscates precise location to protect users' privacy
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Airthings, the company behind digital sensors that detect radon gas, has built a global map based on frequently updated data pulled from its distributed network of devices installed in customers' homes. Though the precise location of the sensors is hidden to protect users' privacy, the map does break localized regions into areas that Airthings deems lower, medium and high risk to radon gas.

Radon is a colorless and odorless radioactive gas belonging to the group of noble gases. It occurs as an intermediate step as the radioactive elements uranium and thorium decay into lead in the Earth's crust. Even in its most stable form it has a half-life of only 3.8 days. However, as it rises up from the Earth it can build up in enclosed spaces, including buildings.

Studies suggest that high concentrations of radon can cause lung cancer, with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) citing radon as the greatest cause of lung cancer after smoking. It's thought to cause 21,000 cancer deaths per year in the States, 2,900 of which are among non-smokers.

Airthings posits that, because radon levels can fluctuate over time, radon detectors are a useful way to monitor risk. Indeed, the EPA makes radon test kits available from its website.

The company's own detectors start with the Wave – a €199 (US$230) device that you literally wave at for a visual indication of radon concentration in your home – green being good (under 100 Bq per cubic meter), red being bad (over 100 Bq per cubic meter), and amber meaning "temporarily high" (with readings somewhere in between). It can also feed more detailed results to a smart phone. The company makes a Wave Plus sensor, too, which additionally monitors carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds.

Europe and North America are the two continents with the greatest density of data
Europe and North America are the two continents with the greatest density of data

But because these devices are networked, Airthings has been able to pull data to create this global radon map. The map is most heavily populated with data in Europe and North America, where there is clearly a good distribution of Airthings devices. The data from remaining continents is very sparse indeed, though.

It's important to take this for what it is: a tech demo rather than a scientific endeavor. The methods Airthings use to obfuscate the data to protect users' privacy may mean a lone sensor reading is the basis for an entire region. Airthings itself notes that concentrations can vary from home to home, let alone across the large minimum areas the map uses to break down the data.

Perhaps more intesting is how we're starting to see connected, smart devices in the home being used to build a global picture – in this case of radon concentrations, but this could just as easily be for energy consumption, robot vacuum user base, or Alexa voice queries for recipes including yam.

A red block on the map covering your part of the world may not be reason alone for undue alarm, if it helps to raise awareness of the risks posed by radon then that's no bad thing – even if Airthings does clearly stand to gain.

Sources: Airthings, Radon map

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3 comments
3 comments
paul314
Data are also likely skewed by the subpopulation of people who are willing to spend that much for semi-realtime monitoring of radon in their homes. Most people who are concerned about radon have a week-long (or so) survey done with a single-use device; if it comes back green that's the end of it. Only if the survey comes back with potentially dangerous numbers are they going to spring for remediation or further monitoring.
j.o.
This needs more research. It was shown in the late 70's that if you smoked and worked in an underground Uranium mine, you died eventually of lung cancer. The mining companies outlawed smoking underground. Radon was found to attach itself to dust particles. So filtering the dust you breathed in reduced the exposure to radon.
Another source for Uranium/Radon data are measuring Uranium concentrations from farming wells used for irrigation. This data is available from the EPA/USGS.
Radon concentrations vary daily by sun/moon configuration and monthly due to flexing of the earth's surface by the tides.
aksdad
The expensive household-radon-lung-cancer myth persists. The EPA's "linear, no-threshold" (LNT) standard of 4.0 pCi/l was based on extrapolating thresholds from studies of lung cancer among uranium miners exposed to very high levels of radon (most of whom also smoked). Scientists and statisticians are generally skeptical of the LNT model. Life on earth has evolved to handle constant, low-level background radiation. Our bodies repair DNA damage. A 2012 MIT study showed that mice can handle 400 times the background radiation level with no apparent excess DNA damage, an amount far higher than U.S. safety standards. Several studies have refuted the idea that low levels (above 4.0 pCi/l) of radon exposure increase lung cancer risk. In fact, a couple studies show that the exposure to radon reduces lung cancer risk. The risk of lung cancer from constant, moderate radon exposure is dubious but the high cost of mitigating radon in your home is real.