Radon

How does Radon Enter my Home

Radon is a radioactive gas. It comes from the natural decay of uranium that is found in nearly all soils. The primary way that Radon enters a house is through the foundation slab, crawl space, or basement. It can enter through cracks in basement floors, drains, sump pumps, exposed soil, construction joints, or around loose pipes. Your home traps radon inside, where it can build up.

Radon Testing

Radon is measured in picocuries per liter of air or pCi/L. The average concentration of radon in outdoor air is 0.4 pCi/L. The average radon concentration in the indoor air of America’s homes is about 1.3 pCi/L The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established 4 pCi/L as an action level in which one should initiate measures to reduce the amount of radon in a home. However, there is no safe level of radon. The EPA recommends that if the radon level detected in a home is between 2 and 4 pCi/L, steps should be taken to reduce it to below 2 pCi/L.

Deaths Associated With Radon

Radon Gas is currently the second leading cause of Lung Cancer Deaths in the United States. Over 21,000 deaths are associated with it annually. Radon is the number 13 leading cause of deaths annually overall!

Information on Testing

THI will test for the presence of Radon with the newest and most advanced monitor available on the market; the Corentium Pro. This monitor is fully AARST-NRPP certified, and uses a passive diffusion chamber, using alpha spectrometry to precisely calculate the radon level.

The monitor is set up on the lowest, lived-in level of the home, and runs for 48 hours. The monitors collects an hour by hour average of the radon concentration level in the home. The 48 hour average of the hour by hour readings, will be presented in the report that is produced.

This monitor also collects hour by hour temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure readings, as well as monitoring for movement or vibrations to the device. These temperature, humidity, pressure, and vibration readings are collected to alert us to the possibility that the test was tampered with. For example; someone trying to move the device outdoors, opening windows or doors, etc.

The test results are available immediately after collecting the device, and a full report showing all the data for 48 hours, is sent out the same day.

Helpful Links

https://www.epa.gov/radon/how-protect-your-family-radon-when-buying-newly-built-home

http://www.epa.gov/radon/index.html

http://www.justanswer.com/oncology/3y6pn-basement-6-5-radon-readings-use-room.html