You should feel the safest in your own home. The world is a scary, dangerous place that has the threat of injury or death lurking around every corner. In your home, you should feel secure and protected. The walls of your home should act like barriers from the outside world and all the harmful elements that wish to cause you misfortune. However, instead of keeping factors that can hurt us out, they keep an even deadlier enemy inside. Many people know the harm gas leaks, mold, and carbon monoxide can have on the body, but there is another substance that people are not too familiar with that can cause lasting damage to your body. This unfamiliar chemical that is causing long term damage to our bodies is often found in our homes. That dangerous chemical is known as radon. Radon is a radioactive, colorless, odorless, and tasteless noble gas. It is also the second leading cause of lung cancer.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the Surgeon General’s Office have estimated that as many as 20,000 lung cancer deaths are caused each year by radon. If you haven?t done it yet, you need to have residential radon testing done to your house. Residential radon testing can be the decision to make your life better or possibly be able to end it. Not only your life, but the lives of your loved ones can also be in danger from radon poisoning. Local radon testing is fairly inexpensive, but then again, can you really put a price on the lives of your loved ones? Residential radon testing service will come to your house and make sure the levels of radon in the area are safe enough for everyone living there. Radon gas testing can be the deciding factor to whether you can sleep peacefully in your house or not. According to the US EPA, nearly 1 in 3 homes checked in seven states and on three Indian lands had screening levels over 4 pCi/L, the EPA’s recommended action level for radon exposure. A family whose home has radon levels of 4 pCi/l is exposed to approximately 35 times as much radiation as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would allow if that family was standing next to the fence of a radioactive waste site.
Short-term detectors measure radon levels for 2 days to 90 days, depending on the device. Long-term tests determine the average concentration for more than 90 days. Scientists estimate that lung cancer deaths could be reduced by 2 to 4 percent, or about 5,000 deaths, by lowering radon levels in homes exceeding the EPA?s action level. The risk of lung cancer increases by 16% per 100 Bq/m increase in long time average radon concentration. Passive systems of mitigation have been shown to be capable of reducing indoor radon levels by more than 50%. When radon ventilation fans are added radon levels can even be reduced further. About 1 in 15 U.S. homes is estimated to have radon levels at or above the EPA action level.
Residential radon testing is a necessity. You may not think it is a big deal, but the safety of your family depends on it. Taking the extra time to getting a radon test completed can be the deciding factor that saves you from the pain of medical bills and the threat of death. Protect yourself and your loved ones now. Go out and get a radon test scheduled for your home.