Radon is quite commonly found in homes all throughout the United States. In fact, one home out of every fifteen will be found with radon levels so high that they are either meeting or exceeding the action level that has been set by the Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA), which is currently 4 pCi/l. In some parts of the country, high concentrations of radon are even more commonplace. After all, up to seven states have such high levels of radon throughout that up to one third of all homes are meeting that action level, if not exceeding it. And the same can be said for at least three Native American reservations as well, if not even more.
Therefore, the importance of radon testing services are quite clear. As this is a substance that cannot be detected by smell, sight, or taste, the work of residential radon testing companies (and the residential radon testing services that they provide) are hugely essential. They can effectively detect this gas in your home and can tell you what steps to take next. Typically, a short term detector will be used, one that will typically be operational anywhere from 2 days up to 90 days, a period of nearly three months. In some cases, a long term detector, which can be used past that 90 day mark, might be required, though typically a short term detector will be sufficient to do the job.
And if radon is detected in your home at high levels, radon mitigation companies can help a great deal. After all, even just utilizing and using passive methods of mitigation can bring down overall levels in your home quite considerably – sometimes even by as much as a full 50%. If radon levels must be further lowered, something such as a radon ventilation fan can be brought in – and also used quite effectively, for that matter.
But why, exactly, does radon need to be looked for and lowered in the first place? After all, it’s impossible to detect with the naked eye – can it really be so harmful? Fortunately, the answer to this question is very much yes. Sadly, radon can lead to a number of health issues, even including lung cancer. As a matter of fact, it has even become one of the top leading causes of lung cancer here in the United States (according to the Surgeon General of this country), second only to smoking and tobacco usage alone and accounting for as many as 20,000 lung cancer related deaths over the course of just one single year.
After all, radon exposure means being exposed to a great deal of radiation indeed, especially when you have been living in a place where you have been exposed to high levels for quite some period of time. In fact, a family living in a home that meets or exceeds the above mentioned EPA action levels will actually end up being exposed to more radiation than if they were standing at the fence of a radioactive waste site, thanks to the strict governmental regulations for the latter. As a matter of fact, they’d be exposed to as much as up to 35 times the total radiation.
Therefore, taking steps to reduce the amount of radon in your home, often with the aid of a radon testing and inspection company as well as a radon mitigation and abatement service, can go a long way. In fact, just lowering levels in homes throughout the country to below the action level set by the EPA could reduce overall lung cancer deaths quite considerably – even by as much as a full 4%. This could save as many as 5,000 total lives over the course of just one single year – a considerable amount, to say the very least on the subject.
At the end of the day, there are a great many reasons to conduct radon testing in your home. In fact, going through with radon gas testing might even save your life, as your risk for lung cancer actually rises by as much as 16% for every increase of 100 Bq/m within your home. This risk has also been known to rise with time.
