Your home should be somewhere you feel secure.
Families today do everything they can to meet this everyday foundation. They install a whole house water filtration system to make sure every last glass they pour is safe. They wipe up any mold, rust or dust that gathers to avoid infection. They invest in organic housing supplies when doing some spring cleaning. Sometimes, however, these efforts are just not enough. Radon gas exposure is on the rise in the United States and a hazardous element many are still completely unaware of.
Before you wrap up your to-do list learn more about radon testing and how it can guarantee the safety of your home.
Today’s American household is facing more issues than ever. Dipping water quality, air pollution, housing prices…it seems everywhere you turn there’s another problem that needs your immediate attention. Radon gas, however, should be at the very top of the list. Local radon mitigation and abatement companies are doing their best to spread awareness about this dangerous and difficult chemical, from providing simple tests to giving houses a complete radon gas removal system. But just what is radon gas, anyway, and what are its unique dangers?
Odorless and tasteless, this chemical is naturally occurring and has been found in many American homes as of late. The U.S. EPA conducted multiple studies across seven states and three Indian lands, discovering one out of three homes is currently being exposed to screening levels over 4 pCi/L. This is the EPA’s recommended action level for radon exposure and something that can only be determined through the aid of radon testing services. How bad is it? A family with radon levels at this level is exposed to 35 times the amount of radiation if they were next to the fence of a radioactive waste site.
Lung cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer, caused by a variety of factors ranging from chronic smoking to genetics. Radon gas has been determined by the Surgeon General to be the second leading cause of the illness in the United States. The level of risk posed to your family depends on the amount of radon gas present in or around your home as well as how long it’s been around. Your probability of developing lung cancer increases every 15% per 100 Bq/m in long-term average exposure. How can you determine this seemingly impossible figure, though?
Knowing how to get rid of radon is best left to the professionals. Even the most well-meaning efforts on your end will do little to curb radon gas exposure in your area. Short-term detectors are able to measure radon levels for a few days to a few months. For more extreme cases you will likely need a radon testing service to provide long-term tests. These can measure the average concentration of radon gas exposure around your home for more than 90 days. Scientists have recently estimated lung cancer deaths could be reduced by 2% to even 4% by lowering radon gas levels in homes.
There are other methods to drastically reduce radon gas, too. Passive systems of mitigation have been proven to significantly lower indoor radon levels by more than 50%. When accompanied by specialized radon ventilation fans? This figure is even higher. Today around one out of every 15 American homes are estimated to have radon levels either at or above the EPA recommended action level. As many as 5,000 lives per year could be saved if more households took action and reached out to a local sump pump excavation service.
Radon testing is the one resource standing between you and a home that’s safe year-round. Call your local radon abatement company and ask for a short-term or long-term test today.