Is this a worry or would it cause issues to store fruit in a cellar in areas that naturally have high radon?
Not super worried about the issues about breathing it in just wondering if it would be safe for food or cause any issues?
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We live in an area where it’s pretty common for houses to need radon mitigation, and my understanding is that if you do have radon, the best thing to do is to set up a system that vents the radon before it actually enters the basement (see diagram in article):
In other words, any worry you might have about whether radon would be safe for fruit storage would generally be superseded by the health risks of having elevated radon levels in your house, period.
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Totally agreed! my area is very high in radon and I have a radon mitigation system as well as ERVs.
I have been thinking about doing a pretty extensive building project and adding in ground greenhouse as well as a cellar as my next project. They would be ventilated but in the winter as a buddy pointed out when snow covers everything this would be a seep point for radon.
I was wondering if this in itself was a worry?
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So are you talking about like a root cellar type space that wouldn’t be connected with your living space? I honestly don’t know, and I would want to check with someone who does, but this quote from the article below seems to speak somewhat to your situation:
"There is also no risk of radon particles settling on the bottles themselves. Says Hanson, ‘Radon is naturally moving . . . it follows the normal ventilation patterns of the house, but it doesn’t accumulate on objects, and it doesn’t accumulate in substances.’
“Though chronic, long-term exposure to radon can lead to lung cancer, your individual risk is calculated by your average daily exposure. If you wine cellar is used solely for storage, this exposure would be minimal. If you’re planning on spending more time downstairs in a tasting room alongside the wine cellar, your exposure might be greater.”
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I wish they tested the cork where is my wine lovers at?
That actually is really reassuring it sort of says it cannot absorb in objects and I was kind of concerned about winter greens in the greenhouse or stored fruit somehow absorbing this? Which didn’t really make sense to me but it’s amazing what stuff like onions can absorb.
As far as the house goes the cellar would be around 16-8’ away from the house and the in ground greenhouse would be 16’ away
So if they’re separate from the house, it sounds like the main question might be how much time you plan to spend in the greenhouse. Personally, I think I’d look into mitigation options for the greenhouse at any rate, but I’m definitely no expert on this stuff.
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The fans will handle everything except in the freezing snowy or cloudy days then the air movement would stop and thermal inversion would pull radon in i think.
My concern would be would lettuce absorb this?
For the cellar airflow would be much less but I think I could get a low voltage fan to pull say 50 cfm and we could estimate a total cubic foot at 576 = 8x12x6’. However during winter nights it would have almost none and would have some thermal draw I assume
I wish I could go and test radon at some of these geothermal greenhouses or homes we see. I know people with geothermal homes here but they all did radon mitigation also.
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