Radon Saga, Part I

So.  What do you know about radon?

It's a noble gas (atomic number 86).  It is odorless and tasteless.  It is very dense.  It is a decay product of uranium and thorium.

And it is radioactive, and the second leading cause of lung cancer deaths in the United States.

As we were preparing to move into the new house, I decided that I wanted to test the levels of radon in it.  I really didn't think about why I wanted to do this (it never even occurred to me in the old house), but, given recent developments, I think I'm going to regard it as a prompting.

Radon can seep into your house through minute cracks in your foundation.  If there is uranium or thorium in your bedrock (granite is a big culprit, as is shale), the radon will travel toward the surface and collect (because it is so dense) in your basement or ground floor.  And sit there, minding its own radioactive business, until it kills you twenty-thirty years later.  (By-the-way, the exposure must be over years, not days or months.  So if you visited my house, don't worry!  You are safe.  But we sort of are planning to stay here for...years.) 

Or not.  Not everyone is going to die of lung cancer after living in a high-radon-level home.  But statistically, it can lead to cancer.  And since both my grandfather and my father died of non-smoking-related lung cancer, I'm a tad bit FREAKED OUT by radon.  (We don't have any known radon link to their lung cancer, by the way.)

So in January I sent away for a little $7.00 test (from here), and followed the instructions, exposing it to the air in our basement, and sending it back 48 hours later.  Two weeks later, we received our lab results in the mail.  The EPA recommends mitigation action at 4.0 pC/L.

Our radon levels were measured at 14.1 pC/L.

Yikes.

The next (recommended) step is to test again, to make sure the results weren't a fluke or spurious.  So I duly sent away for another kit, and tested again.

Our second test came in at 9.4 pC/L.

We then averaged our two results together, and we got 11.75 pC/L.  Remember, the actionable level is FOUR.

So.  Time for action!

Tune in tomorrow for the next exciting installment in The Radon Saga.  Same bat-time, same bat-channel.  Read Part II here!