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Radon is a radioactive gas that has been found in homes all over the United States. It comes from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock, and water and gets into the air you breathe. Radon typically moves up through the ground to the air above and into your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation.
Where is radon most commonly found?
Radon levels are usually higher in basements, cellars and living spaces in contact with the ground. However, considerable radon concentration can also be found above the ground floor. Radon concentrations vary considerably between adjacent buildings, as well as within a building from day to day and from hour to hour.
What causes high radon levels in a house?
CAUSES OF RADON IN YOUR HOME: CRACKS AND GAPS Coupled with any cracks in the foundation and gaps in your flooring and around pipes, and radon has easy access to your home. A DIY solution is filling in every crack and gap with caulk to limit radon’s access to your living space.
What are the symptoms of radon in your home?
A persistent cough could be a sign that you have radon poisoning. Persistent cough. Hoarseness. Wheezing. Shortness of breath. Coughing up blood. Chest pain. Frequent infections like bronchitis and pneumonia. Loss of appetite.
How do I reduce radon in my home?
More Ways to Take Action Stop smoking and discourage smoking in your home. Increase air flow in your house by opening windows and using fans and vents to circulate air. Seal cracks in floors and walls with plaster, caulk, or other materials designed for this purpose.
How do you eliminate radon?
Other radon reduction techniques that can be used in any type of home include: sealing, house or room pressurization, heat recovery ventilation and natural ventilation. Sealing cracks and other openings in the foundation is a basic part of most approaches to radon reduction.
Can air filters remove radon?
Yes, air purifiers help with radon gas reduction to some extent. The air purifiers with activated carbon filter technology are highly effective in trapping radon gas.
Should you walk away from a house with radon?
Should you walk away from the deal? Consumer Reports says you don’t have to. Radon-related deaths are due to exposure over the course of a lifetime. “You should definitely take it seriously but you really don’t need to walk away from the home.
Does a dehumidifier help with radon?
No, buying a dehumidifier will not make radon go away. Radon must be removed by a remediation method like active soil depressurization (ASD), which ironically has been shown to be even more effective at removing humidity from a home than a dehumidifier in the same EPA study.
How quickly can radon affect you?
Radon gas can damage cells in your lungs, which can lead to cancer. Radon is responsible for about 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the United States, though it usually takes 5 to 25 years to develop.
Can you smell radon in your house?
Because radon gas can’t be seen or smelled, the only way to know whether you’re being exposed to it is to test for it. A Citizen’s Guide to Radon, produced by the EPA, explains how to test your home for radon easily and inexpensively, and what to do if your levels are too high.
Can you feel radon?
What Is Radon? adon is a radioactive gas you can’t see, feel, taste, or smell. It starts out as uranium, a heavy metal found in the ground and most rocks on the planet.
Should I be worried about radon?
Radon Is a Cancer‑Causing, Radioactive Gas But it still may be a problem in your home. When you breathe air containing radon, you increase your risk of getting lung cancer. In fact, the Surgeon General of the United States has warned that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States today.
What are 5 facts about radon?
Here are a few facts about radon, and what you can do to help keep your family healthy and safe. Radon is radioactive. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas. Radon causes cancer. No immediate symptoms. You must test for radon. Radon is present indoors and outdoors. Radon can build up in any building.
Will opening the basement windows before a radon test lower the results?
Unfortunately, no, opening the windows does not reduce radon. It is not a gas that will just permanently escape the home like smoke from something burning in the oven. The radon may seem to leave when the windows are open, but as soon as they are closed, it is back.
Will running a fan reduce radon?
In some cases, radon levels can be lowered by ventilating the crawlspace passively, or actively, with the use of a fan. Crawlspace ventilation may lower indoor radon levels both by reducing the home’s suction on the soil and by diluting the radon beneath the home.
Can plants help with radon?
Common houseplants like spider plants, palms, ferns and ivies are quite efficient at cleansing the air and making home air healthier. But the few sources I did locate indicated that indoor plants have little or no effect on radon gas.
Why does radon build up in basements?
Radon gas accumulates in basements because of low ventilation. Heating and air-conditioning, natural air movement, the “stack effect,” as well as diffusion of radon gas through the floors and walls distribute radon throughout the house.
Where does radon come from?
Radon is constantly being generated by the radium in rocks, soil, water and materials derived from rocks and soils, such as certain building materials. Radium is a decay product of uranium which is naturally occurring in the soils and rocks of the earth’s crust.
