Radon can be found in more homes than many of us might realize. And homes with radon meeting or exceeding the action levels that have been set by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) are not uncommon – at least not as uncommon as many people might think them to be. Unfortunately, up to one home out of every fifteen homes in this country will have radon levels that are this high or higher. In some areas, the problem is considerably worse, with seven states found to have such high radon concentrations that up to one third of the homes were afflicted by them. The same held true for three separate Native American reservations as well.
But why is radon such a problem? It is, after all, a gas that cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted. What could the harm really be? When you look at the facts, however, you see just how deadly the impact of radon can be over a long period of time. After all, research into radon exposure has shown that in a home where radon levels meet 4 pCi/l, the family living there is ultimately exposed to higher levels of radiation than if they had been standing directly next to a radioactive waste site. As a matter of fact, they would be exposed to as much as 35 times the radiation, a truly staggering number indeed. And this has its consequences, namely in the form of lung cancer.
Lung cancer and radon exposure are deeply linked for many lung cancer victims all throughout the country. It has become such a problem that not only are up to 20,000 people losing their lives to radon related lung cancer on a yearly basis in the United States alone, but that now radon exposure is considered to be the second leading cause of this disease by the Surgeon General. This means that only smoking and tobacco usage are more likely to cause lung cancer. Therefore, having radon in your home can be quite dangerous and even deadly. And if the radon levels in your home have been steadily increasing over the years, the problem is likely to be even more pronounced. As a matter of fact, a climb in radon levels by even just 110 Bq/m could and likely will increase your risk of later getting diagnosed with lung cancer by as much as a full 16%. Though you might not have known the risk of radon before, it is now a risk that we should all be taking a seriously as is possible.
Of course, there are methods by which radon can be detected in your home and these are methods that anyone and everyone should utilize. Contacting a local radon testing company is a good first step, as there are a number of ways in which radon testing companies can detect not only the presence of radon, but its levels throughout your home. A short term detector will be the most likely to be used, as this can be used for as little as two days but often as many as 90 days. If more extensive radon detection is needed after this point, it is likely that a long term detector, one that can detect radon for well over 90 days, will be brought into play.
And if radon is detected in your home at levels that are deemed unsafe, a local radon mitigation and abatement company can help. The average local radon mitigation and abatement company is actually likely to have a good deal of success is quickly and effectively lowering the radon levels in your home. In fact, in many cases the local radon mitigation and abatement company will only need to use passive methods of doing so, as even just passive methods alone can drop radon levels by as much as 50% in the typical home. Therefore, the average local radon mitigation and abatement company is likely to employ such methods first. If needed, a local radon mitigation and abatement company can then bring in something like radon ventilation fan. Fortunately, the average local radon mitigation and abatement company will have access to such tools.