Radon is a radioactive element that naturally occurs from the normal decay of trace elements like uranium, thorium, and radium locked in rocks and soil. This gas has no odor or taste, making it impossible to detect via the senses.

1. Basics of Radon Testing
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2. Radon is a radioactive element that naturally occurs from the normal decay of trace
elements like uranium, thorium, and radium locked in rocks and soil. This gas has
no odor or taste, making it impossible to detect via the senses.
What Radon Can Do
Under normal circumstances, it seeps through the ground and diffuses harmlessly
into the air. But, in environments with poor ventilation like underground mines,
radon can accumulate to levels that can substantially increase the risk of lung
cancer.

3. The areas where the populace is most at
risk of inhaling large amounts of radon are
houses and buildings that are tightly
sealed or built on ground rich in uranium,
radium, or thorium. Basements and
ground level rooms typically have the
highest amount of radon because of their
proximity to the ground.
Radon is unique among radioactive
elements as it decays quickly. It causes
lung cancer by damaging the cells that line
the lungs. Next to smoking, radon
exposure is the leading cause of lung
cancer in the United States. Scientists
estimate that 15,000 out of the 22,000
annual lung cancer deaths in the country
have links to radon.
Dangerous Radon Levels
Testing is the only way people can know
for sure if they are at risk of excess
radon exposure, and the detection
process is area-specific. This is because
the amount of radon within a certain
space depends on the amount of natural
radon in the soil, the ease with which
radon enters it, and the building’s
ventilation. Two houses can stand next
to each other and have drastically
different levels of radon.

4. SOURCES:
http://www2.epa.gov/radon
http://www.greenesinc.com/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16538937
Experts can use short-term and long-term detection devices to gauge the
average radon level, though it is wiser to use the latter, as radon
accumulation can vary from month to month. The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) recommends residents take action when their homes
have radon levels of at least four picocuries per liter (pCi/L) of air.
Statistically, one in every fifteen U.S. homes is above the radon action level,
and researchers estimate that lung cancer deaths can drop by two to four
percent if more people took action on radon.