What is Radon?
Radon is a natural gas that is released from rock, soil and water. This gas cannot be seen or sensed by humans. Radon exists both indoors and outdoors, and approximately 1 in 15 homes have high levels of radon. High levels of this gas can lead to several health complications.
What are the Health Risks?
Increased level of radon exposure over time can lead to cancer. According to the American Cancer Society (2015), radon causes approximately 20,000 lung cancer deaths in the U.S. each year. This rate is second only to smoking. Smoking in addition to radon exposure significantly increases one’s risk of lung cancer.
However, smoker or non-smoker, everyone is at risk for radon since certain amounts exists outdoors and in everyone’s homes. This gas impacts lungs through the air you breathe. When you breath air containing radon (at certain levels), cells in your airway can become damaged. This damage overtime can lead to lung cancer.
How can I protect myself, my home and loved ones?
Test your home for radon: Radon enters homes through cracks and openings in the building’s foundation. Places that commonly detect radon levels are: basements, garages and first-floor rooms. Radon can be found in everyone’s home and neighboring homes can detect different levels of radon. Radon is measured in picocuries per liter of air or, “pCi/L.” The average levels of radon outdoors is 0.4 pCi/L, and indoors is around 1.3 pCi/L. Even though there is not “safe” level of radon, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (2016) levels below 4 pCi/L are considered acceptable. The only way to know your homes radon levels is through testing. You can test your own home for radon using a do-it-yourself kit or by contacting the Forest County Potawatomi Housing Department at (715) 478-7270.
Other helpful steps recommend by the Environmental Protection Agency (2016) include:
- Stop smoking and discourage smoking in your home. Smoking significantly increases the risk of lung cancer from radon.
- Increase air flow in your house by opening windows and using fans and vents to circulate air. Natural ventilation in any type of house is only a temporary strategy to reduce radon.
- Seal cracks in floors and walls with plaster, caulk, or other materials designed for this purpose. Always test again after finishing making sure you’ve fixed your radon problem.
- Ask about radon resistant construction techniques if you are buying a new home. It is almost always cheaper and easier to build these features into new homes than to add them later.
References
American Cancer Society. 2015. Radon and Cancer. Retrieved from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/pollution/radon
National Radon Defense. 2016. Risks for radon can be higher in Native homes. Retrieved from http://www.nationalradondefense.com/about-us/articles/12893-risks-for-radon-can-be-higher-in-native-homes.html
United States Environmental Protection Agency. 2016. National Radon Action Month Event Planning Kit. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/radon/national-radon-action-month-event-planning-kit.
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development & Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control. 2011.Radon.