Safety To-Do #2: Make Sure Your Home is Radon-Free

Radon is a clear, odorless, radioactive gas known to cause lung cancer.  Though you may not yet be familiar with radon or its devastating effects, the World Health Organization and the US Surgeon General, among others, have issued health advisories to begin educating the public about Radon.  In fact, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared January to be National Radon Action Month.

According to the EPA, Radon is responsible for more than 20,000 lung cancer deaths per year in the US alone.  While radon is found in the air outside and indoors, it is exposure to concentrated levels of radon inside buildings that most often causes serious health problems.  In winter months, when doors and windows are kept closed, radon can build up more quickly.

Radon occurs naturally as the uranium in soil and water breaks down, making it more prevalent near the ground, in basements and lower levels of buildings.  Radon typically enters a home, office or other building through small, often unnoticed gaps such as cracks in the foundation, spaces in wall or floor joints, areas around pipes and cavities in walls.

The good news is that it is relatively easy and inexpensive to test for radon in your home.  Test kits are available in many home and hardware stores or online.  Radon test kits vary in cost (from about $12 to $150) as well as in the duration of time the testing mechanism must be left undisturbed.  In addition, some kits require mailing samples into a lab for results, so read the packaging or online product page carefully and choose the one that is best for you.  Also, be sure to ask your company and your child’s school or daycare if they have checked for radon recently.  If not, offering to pick up a kit for them may encourage more timely testing.

For our family, I ordered the First Alert RD1 Radon Gas Test Kit ($13), which is a charcoal test that you mail in to the First Alert lab.  Since this is a one-time reading, I also purchased the Safety Siren Pro Series3 Radon Gas Detector ($120) for ongoing monitoring.  There are many, many radon tests and detectors on the market, but these seemed to have the best reviews.  If I discover differently, I will post an update.  I have added both of these radon test kits to the Helpful Products section in the top right corner of this page.

If your test reveals that you do have radon gas build up in your home, you will need to take care of it right away.  This most often requires a professional to install a venting system, which the EPA says will cost about the same as other common home repairs.  In the US, you can find qualified contractors through your State Radon Office.  http://www.epa.gov/iaq/whereyoulive.html

Last week’s safety to-do item: Take Down Holiday Decor and Store with Care

Sources:
EPA radon site: http://epa.gov/radon

World Health Organization press release regarding radon reduction project: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2005/np15/en/index.html

US Surgeon General’s health advisory: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/pressreleases/sg01132005.html