Re: Radon in Caves

[Laurie Taylor <laurie-taylor@uiowa.edu>]

Very interesting, Susan.  Perhaps that's why the Nearderthals disappeared? 

Purely tongue-in-cheek!
Laurie Taylor
laurie-taylor@uiowa.edu


At 12:59 PM 1/22/99 -0600, you wrote:
>Humans who live in houses are less exposed to radon than if they lived
>in caves (although tents probably have least exposure potential).  Radon
>levels in limestone caves can be quite high.  The National Park Service
>closed access to a cave in Cades Cove (a limestone "window" in an
>overthrust sheet of metamorphic rocks) in the Great Smoky Mountains due
>to high radon levels--sorry I don't have the numbers.  This always
>struck me as an overreaction, considering that cavers generally don't
>spend more than a few hours a week in caves and the physical dangers
>(falling, hypothermia, car accidents traveling to/from the cave, etc.)
>far outweigh risks from radon exposure.
>-- 
>==================================================
>Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
>Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee, Inc.
>136 South Illinois Avenue, Suite 208
>Oak Ridge, Tennessee  37830
>Phone (423) 483-1333; Fax (423) 482-6572; E-mail loc@icx.net
>VISIT OUR UPDATED WEB SITE:  http://www.local-oversight.org
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