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Radon Testing |
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The U.S. Surgeon General, Richard Carmona, Issues National Health Advisory on Radon
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The Surgeon General of the United States issued a Health Advisory in January, 2005
warning Americans about the health risk from exposure to radon in indoor air. The
Nation’s Chief Physician urged Americans to test their homes to find out how much
radon they might be breathing. Dr. Carmona also stressed the need to remedy the
problem as soon as possible when the radon level is 4 pCi/L or more. Dr. Carmona
noted that more than 20,000 Americans die of radon-related lung cancer each year.
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WHAT IS RADON?
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that is odorless, tasteless,
and chemically inert. Unless you test for it, there is no way of telling how much
is present. Radon is formed by the natural radioactive decay of uranium in rock,
soil, and water. It can be found in all 50 states. Once produced, radon moves through
the ground to the air above.
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WHAT HAPPENS TO RADON WHEN IT ENTERS THE ENVIRONMENT?
Radon enters the environment from the soil, from uranium and phosphates mines, and
from coal combustion. Radon has a radioactive half-life of about 4-days; this means
that one-half of a given amount of radon will decay to other products every 4 days.
Some of the radon produced in the soil will move to the surface and enter the air.
Radon daughters (other parts of radiation) attach to dust and other particles in
the air. Most of the radon will remain in the soil. Radon also moves from the soil
and enters the groundwater.
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WHAT HEALTH EFFECTS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH RADON EXPOSURE?
The Surgeon General has warned that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer
in the United States. Only smoking causes more cases of lung cancer. If you smoke
and you are exposed to elevated radon levels, your risk of lung cancer is especially
high. Radon gas decays into radioactive particles that can be trapped in your lungs
when you breathe. As they break down further, these particles release small bursts
of energy. This can damage lung tissue and lead to lung cancer over the course of
your lifetime. Not everyone exposed to elevated levels of radon will develop lung
cancer, and the amount of time between exposure and the onset of the disease may
be many years. Breathing radon does not cause any short-term health effects such
as shortness of breath, coughing, headaches, or fever.
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HOW DOES RADON GET INTO THE HOUSE?
Houses act like large chimneys. As the air in the house warms, it rises
to leak out the attic openings and around the windows. This creates a small suction
at the lowest level of the house, pulling the radon out of the soil and into the
house. Openings, which commonly allow easy flow of the gases, include the following:
Cracks in floors and walls. Gaps in suspended floors. Openings around sump pumps
and drains. Cavities in walls. Joints in construction materials. Gaps around utility
penetrations. Crawl spaces that open directly into buildings. You can test this
on a cold day by opening a top floor window an inch. You will notice warm air from
the house rushing out that opening. This suction is what pulls the radon out of
the soil and into the house.
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WHAT IS THE “ACCEPTABLE” LEVEL OF RADON IN AIR?
The EPA states that any radon exposure carries some risk; no level of radon
exposure is always safe. However, EPA recommends homes be fixed if an occupant’s
long-term exposure will average 4 picocuries (pCi/L) or higher.
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WHAT IS A “PICOCURIE” (pCi)?
A pCi is a measure of the rate of radioactive decay of radon. One pCi is one trillionth
of a Curie, 0.037 disintegrations per second, or 2.22 disintegrations per minute.
Therefore, at 4 (picocuries per liter, EPA’s recommended action level), there will
be approximately 12,672cradioative disintegrations in one liter of air during a
24-hour period.
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HOW OFTEN IS INDOOR RADON A PROBLEM?
Nearly one out of every 15 homes has a radon level the EPA considers to
be elevated – 4 pCi/l or greater. The US average radon-in-air level in single-family
homes is 1.3 PCi/l. Because most people spend as much as 90 percent of their time
indoors, indoor exposure to radon is an important concern.
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WHAT LEVELS OF RADON ARE IN ALABAMA?
Click on the following link
http://www.epa.gov/radon/zonemap/alabama.htm |
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