Understanding The Risk Of Radon Throughout The United States
Radon is a huge threat here in the United States. After all, up to one home out of every 15 have levels of radon within it that are so high as to meet or even exceed the action levels that have been set by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). Unfortunately, this means that a family living in a home with 4 pCi/l of radon (the aforementioned action level) within it is exposed to up to 35 times the amount of radon that they would be exposed to if they were standing so close to a nuclear waste site as to be at its fence.
Unfortunately, there are some parts of the country that are even more heavily impacted by radon exposure. In up to seven states throughout the country, up to one home out of every three has radon levels meeting the EPA action level. In addition to this, up to three Native American reservations have also been found to have exceptionally high levels of radon in the homes found on them. The toll that this takes is a high one.
After all, it is radon exposure that drives many lung cancer cases seen throughout the United States. Over the course of just one single year, as a matter of fact, it has been found that up to 20,000 people will lose their lives to radon-related lung cancer. This means that only tobacco usage and smoking causes more lung cancer cases (and lung cancer deaths) in the United States, leaving radon exposure as the second leading cause.
And if you’re living with rising levels of radon within your home, the threat is likely to be even more pronounced. This is due to the fact that, for each increase in radon of 100 Bq/m, your chances of developing lung cancer increase by as much as a full 16%. And if you live in a home where the radon levels have been high for a considerable period of time, this threat is only continuously increased. Unfortunately, far too few people even actually know that they are living with such a threat in the first place, as many are unaware of the dangers of radon – or of what radon is in the first place. As radon cannot be smelled, tasted, or seen with the naked eye, it is easy for radon levels to go undetected for far too long.
Fortunately, investing in the residential radon testing services of a radon testing company is a great way to bring that risk factor back down. The typical radon testing company will be able to provide a number of different radon-detecting tests. For instance, the typical radon testing company is likely to be able to implement a short-term radon detecting test. This radon test can typically be used for as few as two days – but for as long as a full 90 days, nearly a full three months. And long-term tests are also available at the average radon testing company, able to detect the average level of radon in your home for 90 days or even much longer. Hiring a radon testing company to check on the radon levels in your home is, therefore, a hugely important thing.
But what if this radon testing company discovers high levels of radon in your home? As hard as this might be, it’s important not to panic. After all, as anyone working at any radon testing company will tell you, there are many ways in which radon levels can be mitigated and brought back to levels deemed safe by the EPA – if not totally eliminated from your home, as might be possible depending on the situation. For instance, even passive methods of mitigation can be hugely successful, bringing down total radon levels by as much as a full 50%. If levels need to be lowered even further, something like a radon ventilation fan can be used. And this will reduce your risk factor considerably, as bringing homes down to the action level or lower can save as many as 5,000 lives throughout the country, reducing radon deaths by as much as 4% throughout the course of a single year.
