Testing your home for radon helps ensure the
health of loved ones inside. Radon testing your home is easy to overlook, but
the air quality inside a home is a direct link to the well-being of your family. Radon
build-up causes thousands of lung cancer deaths throughout the country every
year. Protecting you and your family’s health starts by having your home
professionally tested for radon. Pillar To Post offers continuous monitoring technology
to conduct these tests, provide reliable results, and will recommend steps to
mitigate unsafe radon levels if found.
What is radon?
Radon gas is a colorless, odorless and tasteless
radioactive gas. It is formed by the breakdown of uranium, a natural radioactive
material found in soil, rock and groundwater.
What is the threat
of radon?
Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer. In the
United States, the EPA estimates that about 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year
are radon related.
How does radon get into
a home?
When radon is released from the ground into the outdoor
air, it is diluted into low concentrations and is not a concern. Within homes,
it typically moves up through the flooring system into other openings and moves
between the ground and living spaces. Your home can also trap radon inside,
where it then builds up over time. Any home may have a radon problem – this
means new and old homes, well-sealed or drafty homes, even homes with or
without basements. This means you can live in an area with fairly low
environmental radon, but you could still have significant levels in your home.
Here are the most
common ways that radon can enter your home:
- Construction joints
- Crack in the solid floors
- Crack in the walls
- Cavities inside walls
- Gaps around service pipes
- Water supply
- Basement sump pumps
- Fireplaces
- Pipe entrances
Radon inspections for your home
The
primary defense against the dangers that radon poses to your home is having a
home inspector test it to detect unsafe or elevated radon levels. Pillar To
Post home inspectors will help you protect against these dangers by detecting
Radon gas building up in your home. By employing state-of-the-art testing
equipment Pillar To Post home inspectors can accurately measure radon levels in
your house. Gathering the data and helping you to understand this phenomenon
will provide peace of mind as you look to make your home healthy for your
family. Radon testing is the crucial first step in mitigating this potential
danger.
Who should have their home tested for radon?
Testing
for radon is the only way to know if you and your family are at risk. The EPA
and Surgeon General recommend all homes be tested below the third floor. It is
estimated that one in every 15 homes in the United States has elevated levels
of radon. While some areas of the county are at higher risk than others the EPA
warns that any home could have an issue with radon levels that only testing
will make clear.
The
Natural Dangers and Health Risks of Radon
Radon
is a by-product of uranium as it breaks down presenting itself as a naturally
occurring gas. There is no way to stop the decay of uranium, and no way to
prevent this in nature. The only defense against radon gas build up is
mitigation, which begins with testing for unsafe levels of radon by a Pillar To
Post home inspector. Our professional inspectors will perform a radon
inspection or a “Healthy Home Inspection” in your home at any time whether you
already own or are considering the purchase of a new house.
Radon
is dangerous, and not a hazard you want to leave to chance. Carcinogens are
categorized based on their individual risk factors to people. Radon is a Class
1 or 1A gas, this categorization is reserved for all agents, compounds or
mixtures known to cause cancer. Radon is the second leading cause of lung
cancer in the country and responsible for thousands of deaths each year.
Prolonged exposure to radon gas causes cancer. Your Pillar To Post home inspector
has the equipment and training necessary to accurately detect unsafe radon
levels.
This article was submitted by Pillar To Post Home Inspectors – Lussier Team in Windham.
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