Radon and Your Health



Why is radon so dangerous?


How can radon be found?


Can radon levels elevate?



How is radon measured?







What is radon poisoning?


Why does radon poisoning occur?


What are the signs of radon poisoning?




How can I protect myself and my family from radon poisoning?


Radon Danger in Your Home – Know the Facts

Knowing about radon is more important than ever before, as new facts emerge about its deadly consequences. The United States Surgeon General re-emphasized to the nation in January of 2010 the fact that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer behind smoking in the U.S. If you smoke AND the radon levels in your home are high, you will have a very high risk for lung cancer. What can you do? Plenty! And it’s easy.

First, what is radon? Radon comes from the natural radioactive breakdown of uranium in soil, rock, and water, and ends up in the air we breathe. Radon is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. Although radon is found in all types of buildings, we get most of our exposure when we’re at home. Radon can exist in the air, and in our water source. Although radon levels vary throughout the United States, radon has been found in every state. You can see the average levels of radon by pulling up the maps on the internet by typing in radon maps.

What levels of radon are ok? Radon in the air is measured in “picocuries per liter of air”, or “pCi/L”. Generally speaking, levels less than 4 pCi/L are considered safe, although if you can reduce the levels further it’s a good idea. The really good news in all of this is that you can TEST for Milwaukee Radon home, and you can put systems in the home to lower radon levels. The systems for lowering the levels are relatively inexpensive. If you have a reading of just over 4pCi/L, you may be able to do some simple sealing of leaks around the crawlspace, foundation, or basement of your home to lower the levels in the home itself.

How should I get my home tested? Who should install a mitigation system if I need one? Good news here too. Testing your home is easy. The first way is to do it yourself by going to a home improvement store and buying a test kit. Follow the directions carefully to ensure the most accurate results. The second way to test your home is to call a professional radon tester. These individuals are trained and certified to administer and interpret the test and can advise you on what to do if your levels are high. The cost to get a professional to test your home is low – usually $125-$200. They will come to your home and leave several test canisters open to the air. They will give you specific instructions for the 2 days the canisters are active. They will then return and send the canister media to a certified, registered laboratory that will have the analysis within one or two days. You can contact your state radon office for a list of professionals who have registered with them, or you can call a local home inspector who routinely performs radon testing as part of the home sale. If you discover through testing that you need a radon reduction system, you should ask your professional tester for referrals or check with the state radon office. The person or company you choose should be a qualified, licensed contractor, preferably certified in radon mitigation, and you should get more than one estimate.

The last piece of good news is if you do need to reduce the levels of radon in your home, it is not expensive to do. A vent and fan system is usually the first line of defense, and will lower the radon to acceptable levels over 85% of the time. NOTE: If you do your own test and the reading comes out over 4pCi/L, I recommend that you call a professional for another test of your home to confirm your own reading.

Radon Mitigation Systems

Because there is a lot of risk of having radon gas present in buildings in the US, it has become a cause for concern for many homeowners and others who own buildings in the US, especially as the risks associated with inhaling the gas are many including being the fact that this gas is the second most important cause of lung cancer, after cigarette smoking. The need to select a proper solution with regard to radon mitigation systems is indeed high, especially if your building or home is located in a high risk area.

In fact, in some areas, before purchasing property, it is necessary to have a specific test performed to ensure that the building is free from radon gas. You have a number of choices with regard to choosing proper radon mitigations systems including having venting pipes to the exterior of the building in order to expel the gas from the building and this form of radon mitigation system is known as Passive mitigation system.

However, when even this radon mitigation system proves ineffective, and there is still noticeable gas in the home, then you need to choose another option which is the active radon mitigation system that requires installation of a fan that runs through the building and which will create low pressure under the slabs and thus increases the rate at which Radon gas is evacuated.

In this form of radon mitigation, you may need to place the fan in a place such as an attic, which is especially necessary if the foundation of the building is slab-on-grade type or even crawl-space. In addition, you should remember that it is necessary to ensure that the vent that runs through your building’s roof does not let water from the pipe drip down onto the slab underneath because it would prove to be harmful.

The cost of installing passive radon mitigation systems would be around one hundred and fifty dollars to three hundred dollars, while that of an active system would be about two hundred and fifty dollars to five hundred and fifty dollars more, though costs will ultimately depend on how big or small is the building.