Forbes College library area will remain closed
By: Courtney Gross
Further testing for radon in several Princeton University facilities confirmed elevated levels of the radioactive gas in an isolated area of Forbes College, which will remain closed.
After several students measured elevated levels of radon in two residential buildings on the Princeton University campus as part of a physics class earlier this month, the university conducted tests to confirm if the results were accurate and within recommended levels by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
University officials said in a statement there is "no imminent risk" to the public.
Of all the areas tested, the Forbes College library was the only area above 4 picocuries per liter a level the EPA recommends as a cap. The library levels registered at 7.5 picocuries per liter. The average indoor level of radon, according to the EPA, is 1.3 picocuries per liter.
"The risk associated with a short-term exposure to radon in the levels we detected in Forbes College is very small," said Sue Dupre, university health physicist in the Office of Environmental Health and Safety, in a prepared statement.
"At the radon level detected in Forbes, even for a student who spent three hours daily in the library every day of the nine-month academic year, we estimate that the risk of developing cancer would be only about .0025 percent greater than the same person exposed to the average indoor radon level of 1.3 picocuries per liter," Ms. Dupre said in a statement. "The value of this calculation is to demonstrate the minimal level of the potential risk, yet we are committed to reducing these levels through remediation procedures."
The other areas cited earlier this month for elevated levels were a computer lab in Forbes College and a laundry room and student mailbox area in Edwards Hall, all of which remain open. Both Forbes College, located on Alexander Street, and Edwards Hall, located on Elm Drive, are student residences.
Testing conducted at Edwards revealed radon levels between .8 and 1.9 picocuries per liter.
While the university continues testing, it is also developing a remediation plan with experts in the field of abatement.
"This remediation could include installing vacuum systems, exhaust systems to vent air to the outside and sealing cracks in the concrete foundation," said Thomas Nyquist, director of Department of Engineering Facilities in a prepared statement. "As an additional precaution, other campus facilities will be retested to measure radon levels beginning this summer."
Radon is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas created by the breakdown of uranium in soil, rocks and water.