Jan 11th 2008, 15:45

Test Your Home for Radon

Get help to reduce your family's risk for lung cancer

Around 21,000 Americans die each year from lung cancer due to radon exposure. Radon is second only to smoking in causing lung cancer. Among non-smokers, it is the leading cause of lung cancer deaths.

What is Radon?

Radon is a natural radioactive gas that comes from soil and water. It seeps through homes through cracks and holes in the foundation. It can also enter through the water supply, especially through water wells.

Any dwelling, including yours, can have unsafe levels of radon. When the gas stays in your home and builds up, you expose yourself to a cancer-causing hazard. To keep your home healthy, your home needs to be tested and protected from this deadly gas. When radon reaches certain levels, you will need to fix your home.

How Do You Find Out Your Home's Radon Levels?

Radon is an invisible, odorless, tasteless gas, but an inexpensive and easy test can detect its presence in your home. You can either do a short-term test to quickly determine your home's radon level, or a long-term test that will reveal the average radon level throughout the year.

A short-term test can take between two to 90 days. Long-term testing, on the other hand, can take more than 90 days but will tell you how much radon your home has year-round.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends doing a short-term test, followed by another short-term test, to get reliable, quick results. These short-term tests should also be followed by a long-term test to give you a complete, year-round picture of your home's radon levels. Radon levels can very over time.

Where Can You Get Help?

You can either seek the help of professional services or perform the simple test yourself.

If you wish to have someone else do it, make sure to first contact your state radon office so you can get a list of qualified testers or mitigators. To find your state office, call EPA's toll-free Indoor Air Quality Information Clearinghouse (IAQ INFO) at 1-800-438-4318.

To get discounted "do-it-yourself" radon test kits, you can call the National Safety Council at 1-800-SOS-RADON (1-800-767-7236).

To learn more about how you can test your home and protect yourself and family from radon contamination, visit: http://www.epa.gov/radon/radontest.html .

Test your homes for radon now! Taking this simple step can make a lot of difference to your and your family's health.

 

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