September 2004
Radon - Is It in Your Home?
Radon is deadly. It's the second leading cause of lung cancer and kills 15,000 to 22,000 people a year. All homes may be at risk. So what can you do to protect your family?
"Every home should be tested for radon," says Becky Chenhall, a radon educator with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service. "I've found that 20 percent of the homes tested in our area have had high levels of radon."
Chenhall is part of a massive radon education and testing program in Georgia through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in partnership with the UGA Family and Consumer Sciences, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Southface Energy Institute.
Q: What is radon?
A: Radon is a naturally occurring gas that comes from the soil. It's produced when uranium decays, working its way up through the soil into the atmosphere. Granite rock, common in North Georgia, contains large amounts of uranium.
Outdoors, radon is quickly diluted by the atmosphere and poses no threat. But if radon seeps from soil under your home, it could build to hazardous levels in the relatively stagnant air in your home's living space.
Q: Why should I be concerned about radon?
A: Radon causes more deaths each year in the United States than drowning, fire and airline crashes combined. It's a class A carcinogen, meaning the scientific data backing radon research is among the most reliable, based on human studies rather than animal trials or computer models. The Surgeon General has even issued a health advisory concerning radon exposure.
As you breathe, radon and radon decay products enter your lungs, releasing small bursts of energy. This can damage lung tissue, DNA and eventually lead to lung cancer.
A: A radon test will indicate the amount of radon in the air. You can't see it, smell it or taste it, but the test will detect a radon problem in your home. Testing your home is easy. You simply place the radon detector in a designated area, remove it after the prescribed number of days and mail it to a lab.
A: Contact the Cooperative Extension Service radon educator in your area. Or contact Chenhall at 770/267-1324 or by email.
To learn more about radon, go to the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences website. You can also call the Georgia Radon Hotline at 800/745-0037.
What if you could protect your home from radon for the small price of $50? If you add the radon control system during your home's construction, the price of the pipes would be around $50, substantially lower than if you detected radon after your home's construction. For a contractor to lower the radon levels in your home after it's built, it could cost between $500 and $1,200.
If you're thinking about building a new home or currently building, ask your contractor about the radon mitigation system for new construction.
The
radon pipe looks similar to the plumbing; it's the pipe on the far right.
The radon pipe, nothing more than a 4-inch PVC pipe, runs from the foundation
of your home up to the roof through an interior wall. The bottom of the pipe
is buried in the gravel under the foundation slab. If radon is detected, a
fan is added to move the gases through the pipes and out of your home at harmless
levels.
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