Radon can be a serious threat to your health, and this gas is invisible and can not be detected by smell or taste. This gas is extremely dangerous, and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in America today. Radon is found in every area of the country, and the world, and testing for this gas should be considered a high priority. Radon occurs when the radioactive breakdown of uranium occurs in rock, water, and soil, and the gas is released into the air you breathe. This is a natural process and can not be prevented. This gas can get into any building, whether it is a home, school, office, or business, and no building is exempt. When radon gas becomes trapped it can build up to high levels that are very dangerous. This gas is a known cancer causing agent, and was responsible for twenty one thousands deaths from lung cancer in the year 2003 alone. The danger of radon gas buildup in your home is high because this is where you and your family spend the most time, so it is where you are the most vulnerable. The only thing that causes more cancer deaths per year than radon gas is smoking cigarettes. If you smoke and have high levels of this gas in your home, your risks of lung cancer more than double, and you will probably end up with this type of cancer.
Radon gas in your home can be minimized with effective testing and prevention methods. Because this gas does pose such a high risk of cancer, both the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, and the Surgeon General recommend testing all homes for it, both new construction and existing homes. The EPA also suggests that all schools should be tested for radon gas, because children have lower tolerances due to their small size and immature body functions. Because this gas poses such a high cancer risk, the EPA states that no level of radon gas is acceptable, and there are no safe levels. The biggest risks are present when the gas is in the home at levels of four picoCuries per liter, also shown as 4 pCi/L, or higher, but even lower levels can substantially increase the risk of lung cancer for you and your family.
Testing for radon gas can be done using two different methods, short term testing and long term testing. Short term testing can be done for between two days and three months, and will tell you whether there are dangerously high radon gas levels in your home currently. Long term testing will help you determine what the average yearly radon exposure level is, because this gas will fluctuate depending on the day, season, and other factors. Finding out what the average exposure to this gas is can help you determine what steps to take to lower or eliminate the level in your home.
Testing for radon gas should be done any time you buy a home, whether it is an existing home or new construction. Testing is simple, and very inexpensive, especially compared to the risks of cancer that the gas can cause. Testing results can be shown in two different ways. The results may be shown in pCi/L, or picoCuries per liter of air, or they can be shown in WL, which are working levels. Results which show a level that is four pCi/L, or 0.02 WL, or higher means that steps need to be taken to lower the levels of radon gas in your home or building. Some states require that these test results are only shown in picoCuries per liter of air, to avoid any confusion and make the risk level easy to understand for everyone. The air outside also contains radon, usually in amounts that average around point four pCi/L, and the average level for homes in the United States is one point three pCi/L. Congress has set acceptable levels for this gas at the equivalent of the level that is in outdoor air as a long term goal, but this is not possible for all homes with the current technology available. Because of this, levels that are below two picoCuries per liter of air are considered acceptable, but even then all possible steps should be taken to reduce the level of radon gas in your home as much as possible. The lower the level of this gas in your home, the lower your risks of lung cancer will be from radon.
Radon testing can be done either short term or long term, and the short term test is done first, to determine the current levels of this gas in your home. If short term testing shows high levels, a second short term test should be done. If the second test also reveals high levels, you should take the necessary steps to fix the problem. Even if short term testing shows low levels, long term testing should be done to show the average yearly exposure to radon in your home. The release of this gas will fluctuate, depending on the day, the season, the temperature, and other conditions and factors. Radon is an environmental pollutant that occurs naturally, with no help from humans, and the cancer link has been verified repeatedly, by studying miners who work underground and are exposed to the gas.
The radon test results will show the risks of lung cancer that your home poses. This does not mean that everyone who has ever been exposed to low levels of the gas will get cancer, but they have a higher risk. There are some other factors that may increase the risks as well, and they include smoking. Some factors to consider are the levels of radon gas that are present in your home, how much time you actually spend in the home, and if you smoke now or have ever smoked. Smoking greatly increases the risks from radon, and both substances can cause cancer, but when they are combined it greatly increases the cancer risk over either one alone. Test your home for this gas, stop smoking, and take steps to minimize the levels to lower your risks of cancer.
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