Carbon monoxide gas in your home poses potential danger, but as the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, points out, radon gas causes 100 times more death annually. A naturally occurring radioactive gas, radon gas is emitted from some types of rocks and soil. Radon enters your home through cracks or gaps in foundations, pipes or walls and can accumulate to dangerous levels inside your home. Radon gas poses health risks and can reach dangerous levels without your knowledge.
Increased Lung Cancer Risk
Radon gas greatly increases your chance for developing lung cancer. The EPA notes that radon exposure likely causes more than 21,000 lung cancer deaths in the United States each year. To put this number in perspective, the American Lung Society explains that makes radon the second most common lung cancer cause, trailing only smoking. Radon damages your lungs through its radioactive decay process. When in your lungs, it breaks down, producing energy that damages your lung tissue.
Increased Health Risks
Although lung cancer poses the most serious and well-documented danger from radon gas, the American Cancer Society also notes that some research indicates radon can cause other respiratory ailments. These ailments include pulmonary fibrosis, a condition where scar tissue forms in your lungs. The scarred, damaged tissue reduces your lung capacity and makes it more difficult to breath. According to the American Cancer Society, radon may also be linked to leukemia and to cancers of the stomach and liver.
Detection Difficulties
Another radon gas danger is it's stealth. Radon gas is completely odorless and colorless. When it enters your home and increases in concentration, you can't see or smell it. To detect radon gas, you need a radon-testing device. The American Lung Society advises that your home is at an increased risk for radon exposure if it is built on an area with high concentrations of granite, phosphate, pitchblende or shale.
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