[Strawbale] Radiating earth

[Sara Tommerup]

I am not thinking about Radon from the bedrock, I am thinking about
thoron (I guess it could be radon as well as it is what thoron breaks
down to) radiating from the clay that we use in earth building
materials...

sara

On Thu, Jun 21, 2012 at 10:51 AM, Juliane Derry
<julianederry at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Sara,
>
> Here in Norway, there are also concerns about this radiation (we call it
> Radon).
> This is a radiation present in most areas of dense rock (most of Norway).
> This started becoming a problem in the 70s and 80s, as houses were built
> much
> more air tight than before. Older houses were leaky, and let the radiation
> out through
> windows and other small cracks all around the house. People now build solid
> cement floors, and add a special membrane to keep this radon out of the
> house to begin with.
> Here is a link to some products. Even though it is in Norwegian, you could
> ask a local place
> about the names and product numbers.
>
> http://www.icopal.no/Produkter/Radonprodukter/Radonsperre.aspx
>
> I have wondered about this issue myself, and whether or not the air exchange
> that
> happens with the straw bale walls is sufficient to let the radiation go
> right through the house?
> You can get little dosimeters to place in the house, which measures the
> content over time.
>
> Anyone else have thoughts on this?
>
> Juliane Derry
> Oslo, Norway
>
>> Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2012 10:36:44 +0100
>> From: stommerup at gmail.com
>> To: strawbale at amper.ped.muni.cz
>> Subject: [Strawbale] Radiating earth
>
>>
>> Hi everybody,
>> There is a real concern that radiation from earth in buildings are at
>> harmful levels, especially in Germany and china. I would like to hear
>> what you know and think of it as I am contacted by nervous clients
>> about the matter. I have a hard time finding information on the
>> subject. A German article was describing the high levels of radiation
>> as being a big contributor to lung cancer which has freaked out the
>> German population as it has a large amount of earthen houses. It is
>> Thoron that is the suspect.
>> If you know about how to stop radiation from walls, like paints or
>> wall paper, etc, let me know also.
>>
>> Look forward to hearing from you.
>>
>> Sara Tommerup
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