"Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer
among non-smokers. Radon is the second leading cause of
lung cancer in America and claims about 20,000 lives annually."
What is radon?
Radon
is a naturally occurring radioactive gas found in soils, rock, and water throughout the U.S. Radon causes lung cancer, and
is a threat to health because it tends to collect in homes, sometimes to very high concentrations.
How can radon
affect people's health?
Almost all risk from radon comes from breathing air with radon and its
decay products. Radon decay products cause lung cancer.
There is no safe level of radon -- any exposure poses
some risk of cancer. In two 1999 reports, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) concluded after an exhaustive review that
radon in indoor air is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. after cigarette smoking. The NAS estimated that
15,000-22,000 Americans die every year from radon-related lung cancer.
How do I know if there is radon in my home?
You cannot see, feel, smell, or taste
radon. Testing your home is the only way to know if you and your family are at risk from radon. EPA and the Surgeon General
recommend testing for radon in all rooms below the third floor.
What can I do to protect myself and my family from radon?
The first step is to test your home for radon, and have it fixed if it is at or above EPA's Action
Level of 4 picocuries per liter. You may want to take action if the levels are in the range of 2-4 picocuries per liter. Generally,
levels can be brought below 2 pCi/l fairly simply.
The best method for reducing radon in your home will depend
on how radon enters your home and the design of your home. For example, sealing cracks in floors and walls may help to reduce
radon. There are also systems that remove radon from the crawl space or from beneath the concrete floor or basement slab that
are effective at keeping radon from entering your home. These systems are simple and don't require major changes to your home.
Other methods may be necessary.
People who have private wells should test their well water to ensure that radon
levels meet EPA's newly proposed standard.
The above information is provided as a public
service by the Environmental Protection Agency for educational purposes.
Radon is a radioactive gaseous element produced in the disintegration of radium, a radioactive metallic element.
It cannot be detected by the senses and can be confirmed only by sophisticated instruments and/or laboratory tests. The gas
enters a house through pores and cracks in the concrete or through floorboards of poorly ventilated crawlspaces, especially
when wet ground allows the gas to escape easily through the soil and disperse in the atmosphere. Radon is a lung carcinogen:
the National Academy of Sciences estimates radon causes some 15,000 to 22,000 lung cancer deaths annually. The U.S. Surgeon
General and the EPA recommend all houses be tested for radon. Houses with high radon levels can be fixed. Excerpts from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Indoor Radon”.
Be Aware
The State Of Ohio Requires
Radon Testers To Be Licensed
Bloodhound Home Inspection
Services is a Certified Professional Home Inspection company providing home inspections, termite inspections, radon testing, and mold inspection/testing in the Austintown, Boardman, Canfield, Howland, Lake Milton, Niles, Poland, Warren, Youngstown, and surrounding NE Ohio areas. Call if your area is not listed here.
