Homeowners take whatever steps are needed to keep their homes safe and secure. Not all know about the dangers posed by radon gas. If you have radon gas in your home, the situation is serious but there are things you can do to make the home safe to live in.
The first thing you need to do is understand what radon is. Radon gas is a radioactive gas that is produced naturally all over the plant. There is uranium in the soil on every continent on the plant. When it breaks down, one of the results is the release of radon gas. It can be hard to detect. It is odorless, colorless, and tasteless gas. When it is released outside, it is not dangerous because it is dissipated rapidly into the atmosphere. When it is allowed to accumulate in a home, that changes dramatically.
As natural as it is, radon gas causes cancer. It has been determined, by the Surgeon General’s Office and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), exposure to this gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer, just behind smoking cigarettes. These two offices have reported that about 20,000 people die every year from lung cancer that was caused by exposure to this dangerous gas.
If you are concerned about radon gas, the first step you should take is finding out what kind of exposure, if any, that you have. The EPA has reported that when they did testing around the United States, they found that one in three of the homes they tested had more than 4 pCi/L. They conducted testing in seven states and three Indian land sites. They have also determined that one in every 15 homes in the nation have radon levels that exceed their recommendations for safe levels of the gas.
To check if you have radon in your home, you can talk to the local residential radon testing services. You can contact the EPA to see if they can recommend one company over another in your area. There are home kits you can buy from the federal government or a public company. You can also install radon gas detectors in your home.
If you have radon in your home, all is not lost. There are a number of radon mitigation companies that can help make your home become radon free. There are two “go to” methods these businesses use to get rid of radon in a home. Your radon testing company, which should not be the same company you hire for the radon remediation, can give you their thoughts on which would be better for your home and your situation. The two solutions are to install radon sump pumps or put in a positive pressure system.
If you have a high level of radon in your home, radon gas pumps work very well. In this process, a small hole is dug under your home. Being at the lowest point in your home, as radon gas is emitted from the soil and rocks, it will be drawn, by gravity to this area. Once it has found its way to the hole, it is easy to use an exhaust pipe to ventilate the area and lower the concentration of the gas in your home.
The work done by a positive pressure system is completely different. In this, fans are put in attics and on external walls. These bring fresh and clean air into the home. Because these alter the air pressure in your home, the bad air that has been contaminated by radon will be pulled outside. This makes it impossible for the radon released under and around your home to stay in your place.
It is possible to use both options in your home. If you are looking to make your home more friendly to the environment, adding fans also has the effect of making your home more comfortable without you having to turn on your air conditioning or heating system. It can also lower your power bills.
Before you buy or sell a home, you should have the house tested for radon. If you are concerned about radon in your home, this can give you real peace of mind.
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