The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the Surgeon General’s Office have estimated that as many as 20,000 lung cancer deaths are caused each year by radon. Significant figure considering it’s avoidable through effective radon mitigation and abatement techniques. This has made it mandatory for homeowners to test radon gas in their houses especially those living in radon zones.
Radon gas is particularly hard to detect using the natural senses — smell, see, or hear. And it’s until someone in the family gets sick and diagnosed with cancer. The best chance to determine whether or not your family is exposed to radon gas is to test for it.
How to Prepare for a Radon Test
While you can easily do the test yourself with simple testing kits, it’s best to let an experienced tester perform radon testing, inspection, mitigation and abatement. Local radon testing companies can help you with that.
Prior and during the test period, you are recommended to keep doors and windows closed for 12 hours. Maintaining a closed building condition can involve a number of requirements depending on what’s in your house. But generally is how to improve radon test results.
- Doors and windows are closed during the measurement; exception of entry doors that can be accessed normally as long at they are not open for extended periods
- Seal off fireplace and any openings in the house
- Indoor equipment; attic and ceiling fans, dryers, portable humidifiers and dehumidifiers should not be operated at all, or operated in a normal fashion.
These measures are essential to keep radon concentration levels in your house optimum so that any fluctuations would not affect the readings on radon testing service, yielding inaccurate results. Perhaps you would assume that only old houses are susceptible to radon gas, but some newly built houses are also known to harbor radon gas at high levels.
Exposure to high levels of radon can have a significant health impact and cause a range of chronic diseases including lung cancer and stomach cancer. As a homeowner, you can be pleased to know that there are steps you can take in your home to lower radon levels. Passive systems of mitigation are capable of reducing indoor radon levels by more than 50%.
When radon ventilation fans are added radon levels can even be reduced further. The system sucks radon gas from the basement and vents it outdoors where it’s less harmful. Radon testing companies can also help you with tips on how to test and manage radon in your house.
Like most home repairs, radon testing companies will have varying costs and quotations, depending on several factors such as house design, and the most ideal system to use in your case. Meanwhile, you could also be looking to find other sources of radon in your house and compound. Radon can contaminate water supply systems, though insignificantly than when it originates from the soil. So, you’d want to have your water supply checked, tested, and treated so that the radon be removed for the safe use of the water. This is particularly important if you’re connected to a public water supplier.
If you think you have been exposed to radon gas, consult your doctor immediately for health advice. The doctor can recommend you seek regular health checkups to monitor your condition and if need be, cancer tests would be conducted for possible symptoms.
