Radon
Radon is widespread and dangerous. The sheer number of people in the U.S. potentially affected by radon is enormous, and radon testing should be more commonplace.
Radon is not produced in great quantities as a commercial product or as a by-product of any industrial operation or process except in nuclear reactors and labs that work with radioactive materials. Some radon may be created during certain other industrial processes during the decay of radioactive materials used in the operation.
The vast majority of radon, though, is naturally occurring and found almost everywhere in varying amounts. When uranium and radium break down or decay, new elements are created, one of which is radon. All over our planet, radon is found in certain types of rocks and the surrounding soil. While the elements uranium and radium are decaying, those two elements stay put, trapped inside the rocks they are part of. Since radon takes the form of a gas, it is free to move through the soil and cracks and fissures in the rocks. It moves upward through whatever it encounters until it reaches the surface. Radon enters buildings and houses in the air.
Many areas of the United States have naturally high concentrations of uranium and radium in them. Some areas have so much that it is mandatory to do a radon level test before a real estate sale of a house or building can take place. Radon is invisible and odorless, so testing for its presence is the only way to check for it.
Once radon gas is in a building, it continues to decay into several radioactive elements itself. The most deadly elements created are polonium and bismuth. Even though radon is a gas, the new elements created when it breaks down and decays are very small, solid particles. Because these particles are solid, they are easily inhaled along with the air and drawn into our lungs when we breathe. These radioactive particles, like all radioactive materials, have a half life during which further decay happens. These specific elements break down so quickly, our lungs do not have the time to exhale them. They break down in our lungs where they are trapped in the air sacs and sent out into the body through the bloodstream. The same process happens when we breathe in radon gas.
Cancer.org says radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. Only cigarette smoking kills more people with lung cancer. The EPA has similarly made an enormous effort to let people know about the dangers of radon.
These dangers are widespread because radon can be found everywhere in the U.S.. However, everywhere it is found, it is not always in hazardous concentrations. The higher the concentration of uranium in the ground, the higher the level of radon. According to the EPA, states such as Montana, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania are in high risk zones. Pennsylvania, in fact, is trying to pass a bill mandating radon testing in all school classrooms. An estimated 40% of homes in Pennsylvania exceed the EPA safety level. In a study done of schools that tested for radon levels, 28% of those had levels exceeding the EPA threshold.
Many other states have high risk areas running through parts of them. There have been extremely high and dangerous levels of radon found in some of the houses in these high risk zones throughout the United States. In the state of New Jersey, for instance, the governor has issued a memorandum telling people of the importance of testing for radon. State officials said one in six homes in the state have elevated levels of radon but only 30% ever get tested.
Radon was not thought to be a widespread health issue affecting everyday people until relatively recently. Back in the mid-1980s, it was only workers in uranium mines who were thought to be exposed to radon gas. The first person with a known radon issue in his house was Stanley Watras. Before Watras, nobody knew there was a problem, and hundreds of thousands of people most likely were exposed and affected. Watras worked at a nuclear reactor in Boyertown, Pennsylvania. One day, when he went through radiation monitors at the end of his shift, alarms went off. Unable to find the source of the radiation anywhere at the plant, the safety specialists went to check Watras’s house. The radon levels at his house were 2,700 times normal background levels. His house was on top of an area venting radon up from the ground in an area of Pennsylvania now known to be a hotbed of radon.
Interestingly, there are big variations in detected radon levels. In different areas of the country and in different areas in high risk zones, there are natural variations, but even building to building in the very high risk areas the levels of radon vary. Where the largest amounts of radon are rising up out of the soil near the surface matters greatly.
Areas of the country that have granite, sedimentary rock, and shale, many times contain higher levels of uranium in them. The higher the level of uranium in an area, the more likely the buildings nearby will have increased levels of indoor radon. That is not the only factor, though, as some buildings in high uranium areas have low indoor levels of radon, and homes in low uranium areas are found to have high levels. There are other geological factors that greatly affect radon levels.
Since radon is a gas, it is able to move easily in soils that are more permeable such as sandy or gravelly areas. Soil that is more tightly structured, such as clay-rich areas, makes it more difficult for the radon to rise to the surface even though the underlying rocks may be rich in uranium. Any fractures in the soil and rock structure create a pathway for the gas. For these reasons, buildings and homes in areas with drier, more permeable soil and underlying rock structures, such as along the sides of hills and at the bottom of canyons where old glacial deposits of gravel may underlay, may have quite high indoor levels of radon due to the gas being able to quickly rise through and get to the surface before decaying.
The EPA estimates at least 1 in 15 homes has radon levels high enough to be a potential health problem. Buildings act as a natural trap for the gases to accumulate in, which elevates their level until they are dangerous to those who spend extended periods of time exposed to the air inside.
Radon enters the body in two ways.
- Air Contamination
Radon has become a huge issue because of how easily it is able to enter buildings and combine with the air inside. Once the radon is inside, it can be inhaled by people in buildings with high levels of radon. The radon inside buildings comes up from the soil underneath and enters through any small cracks and holes in the foundation. There are places the radon will find to permeate through the foundation of a building. The gas builds up pressure under the building around some small opening until the gas is able to work its way through. Older houses, buildings with no poured foundation, and those with open drains in them are very unprotected. Radon will continuously make its way into a building unless stopped.
Homes are the most dangerous place to have high levels of radon because of the large amount of time we spend there. Still, any place we spend more than several hours a day puts us at risk for exposure.
It was quite uncommon to have schools actually test the classrooms for radon levels before many schools began to discover they had problems in their buildings. Dangerously high radon levels have been found in school classrooms as well as in office buildings.
Not every area of a building is likely to be equally affected by radon. Because radon gas almost always enters the building through the lowest area, the lowest floor of the building, such as a basement, is always the place where the readings will be the highest. That is also the area where testing for radon in the air is done. The radon gas builds up inside on the lower floors and continues to rise to the higher parts of the house. Radon levels on the upper floors could be a third of those down below, but how much time is spent in the lower areas and how high the radon level is determines the extent of any remediation needed.
The time of year can even influence the amount of radon in a building. During the times of year when the heat or the air conditioning are running, radon levels tend to be much higher. The air conditioning or the heat is running inside the building with the windows closed actually helps to pull the radon up through the cracks and holes into the building. It creates a negative pressure inside the bulging, pulling outside air in through every crack and hole possible.
The amount of insulation can even affect the radon levels of a building. Many newer buildings are better insulated than older ones, which actually increases the levels of radon in the house. The tighter the building is of any leaks and drafts, the less air exchanges it has. Therefore, it retains more of the radon gas. The same thing happens when a window or door is opened inside. It pulls the radon-laden air up from the lower level to another floor in the building, but the open window or door does allow for some of the gas to escape. Older houses with their leaky doors and windows actually may have lower levels of radon due to more air leaking out.
- Water Contamination
Radon can also get into our bodies through the water we consume. When radon gas comes into contact with underground water, it dissolves and accumulates in it. The radon now trapped in the underground water is unable to evaporate, so it stays dissolved. When the water is pumped up to the surface either by the public water utility or private wells, most of the radon will evaporate into the building it is released into and some remains in the water. Whenever the radon-contaminated water is exposed to open air when used for cooking, showering, or other purposes, the radon is released. The people inside then are breathing the radon gas and the polonium particles it creates. The drinking water still contains radon and enters the body through its consumption.
Large bodies of water do not have the same issue with high levels of radon contamination. When radon rising from the ground comes in contact with surface water such as a lake or river being used as a reservoir, the radon usually has time to evaporate through the water’s surface. The movement of the water helps to continuously agitate the radon out of it. Some, however, will remain suspended in the water itself. Most public water supplies will test for radon levels as part of their regular testing. So, those on public water usually can be assured the water delivered to their homes is safe from radon. However, it can’t hurt to double check.
In Wake County, North Carolina, the county Water Quality Division issued an alert to people in the eastern half of the county. It is suspected that as many as one in five homes, or as many as 6,000 people, could be drinking and bathing in water dangerously high in radon. Water Quality is urging people in the high risk areas to get their well water tested. One well test came back showing levels of uranium (the element radon comes from) were five times the level considered safe. The high risk zone is now being extended even further. They are urging everyone who uses well water to get theirs tested.
Exposure to radon and the horrible effects of it are almost entirely avoidable. Usually, a simple test can check the levels inside a residence. If the test results come back indicating high levels, there are ways to remediate and eliminate the radon fairly inexpensively.
Testing for radon is as simple as ordering a radon test online and setting it up in the basement or lowest area for a few days. Many test kits are a simple, small metal container that collects the radioactive particles in the air. The container is sent back to the lab and analyzed to see if the level of radon detected is dangerous. Test kits usually cost under $20 and are widely available at hardware stores and other big box retailers. While Tony and I do not endorse any product, the First Alert radon test kit is inexpensive, effective, and very easy to use.
No matter where you live in the country, it can’t hurt to test for radon. If you live in a building and are on the third floor or higher, there should be no issue at all. However, if you live in a basement apartment or on the ground level, invest the $20 and test. Absolutely, positively, if you are buying a house or even moving into another rental property, test before you move if the new residence is in a high risk area.
If you are the one doing the testing yourself, you have total control over placing the kit where you need to and letting it sit for the proper amount of time before packing and sending back to the lab. If, however, you are buying a property, the people there are the ones in control of the kit. The test results are easily manipulated simply by moving the kit from the area where the radon level would be the highest to another location in the house where it would show a lower result. Tony and I do know of times that the kit was moved from the basement of the house being tested and placed upstairs for a couple of days before being sent to the lab. People who suspect or know they may have radon issues and are selling their house could possibly do this to make it seem no problem exists. If high radon levels are shown, the owners could have to pay to install a radon mitigation system before the buyers close on the home. If I was buying a house and it had a radon problem, I would expect and insist the sellers take off money from the price to fix it. The only real way around it if you are a suspicious person like me is to pay an inspection company to do the testing using their equipment. In that case, they would be liable for any false readings if that happens.
Health studies done by the World Health Organization put the percent of lung cancer attributed to radon in the United States at up to 14%. That is about 21,000 annual deaths. Many of these are avoidable if only people would take this risk more seriously. It only needs to be a low or medium level of radon to cause damage. The continued exposure is the largest issue as many exposures are not extreme levels. Testing for radon levels and remediation if needed is all it takes.