Why radon is bad

Fact: Radon testing is important, but water radon tests should be conducted after air radon tests. For one, many homes receive their water from a public water infrastructure, which should test and report radon levels. If you get your water from a personal well, a water radon test might be advisable, but a test of radon in the air would be an easier first test to conduct.

This air test would tell you if radon is present, and airborne radon tends to be more dangerous than waterborne radon New Hampshire Department of Environment Services. Fact: Unaddressed radon problems are obviously not attractive to homebuyers.

But if measures have been taken to fix radon levels, and they have been shown to work, this can actually increase home value. Many real estate agents claim a resolved radon issue through a permanent structural fix or a radon mitigation system have a neutral effect or else a positive effect on your ability to sell a home. Radon myths like these are unfortunate as they can lead to inaction. Fact: This is probably the least fortunate of all the radon myths. At the very least, you might find out you do have high radon levels, allowing you to take action to protect your home.

Fact: This last of of many myths is still a common one. The fact is that short-term tests can be enough, provided you use more than one. This would indicate that levels at least some of the time are above recommended level, and therefore that you might want to take action.

Note that if you conduct two radon tests and neither is above 4. To conclusively know if you are safe from radon you must consistently monitor radon levels.

That said, short term tests can lead to radon mitigation action if they conclusively show radon levels are too high. Thousands of Radon sensors across the world, broken down by location. See your region's approximate risk level. Looking for something else? The best way to reduce your risk of radon exposure is to do a radon test. But we definitely recommend testing since Central Kentucky is a radon hot zone, and as many as one out of every three homes have radon in this area.

You can conduct a simple short-term radon test yourself by buying a kit at any home-improvement store. The tests usually run for two to 90 days. These kits are typically used in the lowest level of your home where you spend time, which may include a basement play area or rec room, or may be the first floor of your house.

If you find elevated levels with a short-term test, you may want to run a long-term test, which takes longer than 90 days. Radon levels change over time, so be sure to retest at least once every three years, when you remodel your home, or if you change your heating, ventilating, and air conditioning HVAC system. Our certified technicians at Synergy Home in Lexington, KY, have experience with radon testing as well as with providing radon mitigation services.

Call us at or contact us online! Synergy Home is here to help! Give us a call at Two adjacent homes and even two adjacent rooms can vary significantly in their levels of radon.

This helpful resource from the EPA shows the areas of the U. Iowa has the highest percentage of homes scoring above a safe radon level, with The high levels of radon in Iowa are the result of ancient glaciers that ground down granite rocks over time and deposited them in the form of soil. The exact risks of radon in the home are difficult to assess.

Most studies of the risks used data from miners, who will have had far more exposure to radon than is likely in any building. The biggest cause of lung cancer is smoking, and this can confuse the identification of radon. Non-smokers may have had exposure to second-hand smoke. A combination of radon and cigarette smoke could potentially be more harmful than exposure to either in isolation. Some researchers believe that the risk of cancer from radon without exposure to cigarette smoke is so small as to be almost insignificant.

Others, however, believe the risks that radon presents to lung health are understated and deserve more attention. Some estimate that 1 in 15 homes in the U. Radon test kits are widely available and generally cheap or even free. There is a selection of radon testing kits available for purchase online. Radon kits include a collector.

A person with the kit should leave it in the lowest habited room of the house for 2—7 days. They can then send the collected sample to a laboratory for evaluation.

The most common methods include:. Although studies have demonstrated the link between radon and cancer, its implications for health at the levels that occur in the home are still up for debate, with smoking making conclusions difficult to reach. Quitting smoking can be very daunting, but some of the benefits come much faster than anticipated.

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