Radon, an odorless and tasteless gas, poses a huge risk when it is found in high concentrations, due to the amount of radiation that it gives off (as one might assume from its name). In fact, the radiation levels found in spaces with high concentrations of radon gas are actually comparable to if a family was standing at a fence next to a nuclear waste site. In fact, radon gas concentration actually provides up to 35 times more radiation than standing at a fence to a nuclear waste site even would, proving that it is far more dangerous than many people are even actually aware of.
And radon gas, aside from many of the other dangers of radiation, is one of the known causes of lung cancer. In fact, it’s one of the top causes, second behind smoking and tobacco consumption alone. Each and every year, it is expected that 20,000 people will die of a lung cancer that was directly caused by radon exposure here in the United States alone, let alone anywhere else in the world as a whole. And as many people are all too aware of, lung cancer can prove fatal all too easily and all too quickly, as it is often not diagnosed until it has already progressed quite a bit, something that is truly saddening but one of the more tragic realities of this world.
And more homes have higher concentrations of radon gas than many people realize. In fact, it’s been estimated that one home out of every 16 homes will have radon levels that are at or surpassing the action level that has been set by the EPA (the Environmental Protection Agency). Once this action level has been surpassed, the radon concentrations can begin to prove dangerous, leading to the aforementioned lung cancer or any number of other medical conditions as well. On Native American reservations, the concentration of radon filled homes is an even higher one, as about one third of all homes in such locations of this country have radon levels that are simply too high.
So what can be done to combat this problem? If you haven’t had your home professionally tested for radon by professional residential radon testing companies in your area, you should hire one of the residential radon testing companies as soon as you are possible able to do so. Radon testing companies can perform a number of different tests during their radon testing and inspection, and having any residential radon testing service come in at all is far better than avoiding the problem entirely, no matter what types of radon testing they actually choose to do.
For instance, radon testing companies might decide that only a short term radon test is necessary. This type of testing device and system will be able to test the radon levels in any given home for a little as two days or for even as long as 90 days. However, if long term testing is deemed to be necessary by the radon testing companies in question, a different system will need to be put into place. This long term test will work for a surplus of 90 days, making it ideal when the radon levels in a home must be monitored for a considerable period of time, as might be necessary when a radon mitigation and abatement service has come in to try to help lower radon levels in the home in question.
And if high concentrations of radon are found in your home, there are certainly steps that radon testing companies can take to help to lower these levels back under the action level that has been set in place by the EPA. For instance, these radon testing companies are likely to bring in radon mitigation services, the professionals who know how to remove radon safely and efficiently. Such professionals will be able to remove large quantities of radon both passively and actively, allowing for the safety of the home space to be improved and made better.
