Radon Testing

Indoor radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking. Radon can lead to lung cancer after many years of breathing it.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Surgeon General strongly recommends all homes be tested for radon, and if a problem exists, homeowners should fix it.

Radon is measured in picoCuries.  The EPA recommends homes with radon levels of four picoCuries per Liter (4 pCi/L) or higher be fixed.

The lung cancer risk, accumulated over a lifetime (75 years) from breathing four pCi/L in one’s home, depends on an individual’s smoking history.

These assume one spends 70% of the time indoors, breathing the indicated radon concentrations for many years.  The risk is proportional to the cumulative radon exposure through time.  For one year of exposure, the risk would be about 1/75th as high. 

For former smokers, the risks are between those shown for smokers and never-smokers.  Because it takes a long time for lung cancer to develop, and the cumulative nature of the risk, there is little chance that someone could get lung cancer from radon before age 35, although exposures before that age contribute to the risk at later ages. The average loss of life expectancy per lung cancer death is about 15 years (out of 75).

Contact me today to learn more about Radon Gas Testing.