• Karen Ahearn
    6
    Has anyone seen these Ecosense.io devices that claim they can do a radon test in an hour? My understanding from AARST is that NO test can be valid with less than 48 hours of measurement. This seems like a scam to me. And a dangerous one at that as there are certainly many inspectors who would jump on this.
  • Robert Mahoney
    44
    Yes I have scene them and they stack up well to my $3000 monitor, however they are a non listed homeowner device. Not meant to be used for a professional test.
    We mandate that our clients monitor their radon levels, post mitigation and these devices are great for that. They do have a professional version aswell, but I’m sure you are referring their homeowner use one.
    Yes they do show a value, in an hour, but we don’t mitigate with anything less than a long term test, by a listed device.
  • Bill Brodhead
    42
    Karen. I have been using and testing the Radoneye's for several years. They have a higher sensitivity than the other home radon monitors that allows them to give the 1st reading in 13 minutes and a revised reading every 10 minutes. The 1st reading is typically about 75% of actual result. After an hour they are close to the actual level. Because of their cost and fast response they can be used by radon mitigators to get a quick idea of the approximate radon levels in 30 minutes. We often place 6 of them in the basement of a problem house to try and figure out where radon may be entering the basement. The down side is they must however be plugged in or you have to purchase small 12 volt battery packs to use them as diagnostic tools. They are also sensitive to thoron so you have to be aware of this. There is also no clock or date stamp for the basic model. Their Pro version is fully certified to use for Real Estate testing and has all the typical features. If left in place the hourly data can be downloaded with a cell phone as a text file and converted to spreadsheet. You have to record the time stamp separately.
  • Tom Weatherly
    12
    The RadonEye RD200? It is quite sensitive and good as a diagnostic tool since you can check flux off of the slab quickly to figure out problem areas. The same company (FTLab) manufactures a couple professional versions as well that are now listed. I have about 5 of the RD200 versions. The problem with clients having them, at least in my experience, is that they can foster obsessive behavior fixating on the minor fluctuations because they are so sensitive. I believe the value is updated every 10 minutes on a one hour rolling average, although there is a one day, one week, and monthly value also, customers tend to watch the 10 min changes
  • Karen Ahearn
    6
    I can see a value to mitigators as a grab test but I can't believe an hour test means anything as a radon test. Too much changes from hour to hour. Less than 48 spaced samples makes no sense to me.
  • Jim Duffy
    5
    Semantics I think. A reading is what is given by the device. A test is a defined protocol, of which in radon measurement, 48 hrs is the min. defined by the standards. Certainly the wording, which I didn't review directly, on the device website or documentation may be misleading.
  • Bill Brodhead
    42
    I understand the reluctance to have homeowners obsessing over small changes in their radon levels. In a survey of my own results I found about 85 percent were reduced to 2 or less. That means 15 percent wound be running around 3 pci/l. And often those systems are very difficult to get lower. Mostly this means a discussion with owners about how radon fluctuates.

    Yes it is true a 10 minute or one hour measurement is not valid but it can be really helpful if it is a comparison measurement with 2 -3 - 4 or more detectors at the same time. One caution with doing this. The monitor must be very close to an entry source because radon diffuses back to area average within a foot or so.
  • Henri Boyea
    107
    Yes. Locally, we have a "professional" home inspector who has been offering mitigation advice based on one=hour readings from a RadonEye home monitor. I have explained protocol to several Realtors, and reported his actions to our State Radon office. I can say that at least one of his clients was very unhappy with him.
  • Bob Wood
    95
    We use the radon eye to determine mitigation worker exposure to radiation during the time we are setting up protection for workers (introducing outside air) to their workplace. Many mitigation company's could get themselves in some significant financial trouble if they are not tracking worker exposure from a NORM (Canada) or TERANORM (US) and get a claim later down the road they have no defense.

    As an Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) i would never use or defend using a 1 hr test to determine annual radon exposure. But i can defend using a 1 hr test to defend what a workers exposure is during that 1 hour. Otherwise the rules say i must record the highest number for entire period worker is exposed. Radiation safety always wants us to reduce worker exposure to as low as possibly achievable (ALARA). Most work days i am able to reduce recorded worker exposure number by 1-10 x.

    For example: A home is recorded at 3000 Bq and we work on site for 5 hours without radon eye we would have to record 15000 Bq.hrs as the worker exposure, but because we record it using radon eye 1 hr at 3000 Bq =3000 <a href="http://Bq.hr" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Bq.hr</a> and 4hrs at 30 Bq = 120 Bq.h totals to 3120 Bq.hrs of exposure that day for that worker. that is a reduction of recorded exposure of 4.8 times. This also defends that we are using a method to reduce worker exposure ( introducing outside air) this means we are proving in our paperwork that we are successfully attempting to protect our workers from a radiation source.

    Doing testing for worker exposure (and reducing that level) always makes the clients know we believe in protection from the radiation from radon (I only use the term radiation when talking to client) even when introducing outside air when it is -20 outside.

    We also use baseline number to compare to under slab grab sample (using a GM 1-2) if sub slab levels are not 10 times the in house sample we know we have to look for significant openings if they are 20 -100 times we know slab is very tight.

    Grab sampler is my best friend, to convert the reluctant spouse/partner to a radon advocate, show them a 22,000 Bq sub slab they instantly "get" what we are doing is important, to their families health and they are now quite willing to "go after" their friends to test for radioactivity from radon in their homes.

    Use the science to create trust, people buy and recommend based on trust.
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