Test Your Home for Radon

According the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic radon exposure is the second leading cause of lung cancer deaths in the United States after cigarette smoke. The EPA and the Surgeon General's office estimate radon is responsible for more than 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the United States.

 Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas formed by the decay of uranium in soil, rock, and water. It’s invisible, odorless, and tasteless. It can enter homes and buildings, becoming a health risk when inhaled. When you breathe in radon, radioactive particles from the decay of radon gas can get trapped in your lungs. It takes many years for lung cancer to develop. Most people don't have symptoms until lung cancer is advanced and at that point, it is harder to treat. For these reasons, it is important to take steps to reduce radon exposure throughout your life to help reduce your lung cancer risk.

Factors that increase your risk of getting lung cancer from radon include the following:

• High radon levels in your home or another building that you regularly spend time in.

• High radon levels in the part of the home or building where you spend the most time (radon levels are often higher in basements and lower levels).

• Smoking cigarettes, currently or in the past.

• Burning wood, coal, or other substances that add particles to the air.

There is not enough data to show whether children have a higher risk of developing lung cancer from radon exposure than adults. However, children may have higher doses (amount breathed in) of radon than adults even when exposed to the same radon levels for the same amount of time. This is because children have different lung shapes and sizes and faster breathing rates.

Reducing your risk

The EPA has designated January as National Radon Action Month, and the U.S. CDC has chosen the week of January 27-31 as Radon Awareness Week. Now is a perfect time to test your home for radon.

Steps you can take to measure and reduce radon levels include the following:

1. Obtaining a radon test kit

2. Testing your home or office

3. Sending a kit to an approved laboratory to determine radon levels

4. Fixing your home if radon levels are high.

The only way to know if you have high levels of radon in your home or office is by testing. You can contact your state radon office for testing or purchase a test kit in a hardware store or online.

Lowering high radon levels requires technical knowledge and special skills so you should rely only on a qualified professional for these repairs. Test radon levels again after any repairs to be sure they worked.

Ways to keep radon levels low

There is no safe level of radon. Reducing radon inside your home or building will always help reduce your risk of lung cancer, even when the level in your home is less than 4 pCi/L.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recommends additional actions you can take to help lower radon levels in your home:

• Seal cracks in floors and walls with plaster, caulk, or other materials designed for this purpose.

• You can cover the earth floor in crawl spaces with a high-density plastic sheet. A vent pipe and fan can be used to blow the radon from under the sheet and vent it outdoors.

• Increase airflow in your house by opening windows and using fans and vents to circulate air. However, natural ventilation in any type of house is only a temporary strategy to reduce radon.

Always test radon levels again after you've made any of these changes to ensure these actions reduce the radon levels. You can find out more about radon at https://www.cdc.gov.