Radon is a slow, silent killer. It's a gas that can seep and sit inside your home undetected for years, potentially damaging your lungs and increasing your cancer risk with your every breath. Fortunately, testing can determine if your home has a problem, and simple treatments can reduce your radon exposure to the safest levels.
Identification
Radon is a radioactive gas spawned by the breakdown of minerals, largely uranium, in the earth's crust. It reaches the atmosphere either by seeping directly from the ground or through surfacing groundwater. Radon has no odor or color, so your senses can't detect it. About 2.5 billion curies--or about 2.5 billion times the radioactive intensity of an X-ray machine's generator--of radon enter the atmosphere each year, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, but is so diluted in the atmosphere that it's generally harmless. The heavy gas becomes a danger, however, when it seeps into and accumulates in your home.
Effects
Radon ranks second only to smoking as the leading cause of lung cancer deaths, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute. It contributes to about 15,000 to 22,000 lung cancer deaths in the United States alone each year, though most of these deaths also were smokers. As a radioactive substance, radon continuously emits tiny particles. When you breathe in radon, these particles can damage the cells in your lungs' lining. Radon has not been linked definitively to any other kinds of cancer, however.
Exposure
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that one out of 15 homes in the United States has an elevated level of radon. In most cases, the gas enters the home through cracks in foundations, walls and floors. It then accumulates in lower levels of the home, usually the first floor or basement. Less frequently, radon can enter your home through decaying building materials. Radon also can enter your home through your water supply if your home's water source uses groundwater.
Size
The average indoor level of radon is 1.3 picocuries per liter of air, according to the EPA. A picocurie is one trillionth of a curie, and a single picocurie is approximately the radioactive intensity that naturally exists outside, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. While even this small amount is enough to slightly elevate your lung cancer risk, there's little you can do to get your radon levels much below that. If your levels are above 4 picocuries per liter, your odds of developing radon-related lung cancer are about seven in 1,000, five times greater than your risk of death in a car crash. You can test your radon levels with home testing kits that hardware and home goods stores sell. If you detect a problem or are buying a new home, you should hire a qualified radon tester to determine the level.
Solution
You can cut your home's radon level through radon reduction treatment. This, on average, costs about $1,200, but could cost you between $800 and $2,500, according to the National Cancer Institute. Most treatment involves installing a fan and vent system to propel the gas out of your home and sealing foundation cracks to lower the amount of radon getting in. If your water contains high radon levels, use a point-of-entry filtration system rather than a point-of-use system at your faucets. Radon in water poses less of a danger from ingestion than does the gas the escaping from the water, which could come from your shower or toilet.
