What are the risks of living in a house with high radon levels?

Chip Sprague — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 17:58:12 +0000

What are the risks of radon? Finding out you have high levels of radon in your home can be scary. What’s scarier than that; is living in a home with high radon levels and not knowing it. In today’s day and age, there are so many ways to test for radon to ensure you and your family’s safety. In a previous blog, we discussed how to test for radon in your home. Levels are tested in picocuries, and currently, the EPA’s recommended action levels are between 2 pCi/L and 4 pCi/L.

So, how does radon enter your home? Radon is a gas made up of radioactive particles emitted from the ground. These particles filter through the ground entering the home at any area that may not be sealed properly, such as; around plumbing supply lines, plumbing waste lines, cracks in slabs, lift stations basins in basements, etc. Once in the home, levels can increase based on the amount of radon emitting from the ground and how well the home is sealed. With today’s construction, homes are being sealed tighter to meet strict Energy Efficiency standards.

The Radon particles go through several processed where they break down trying to get to a solid-state. This creates the danger of having high levels of Radon in your home. During the breakdown, process particles release small bursts of energy. From this energy, cancer can occur. The tissue in your lungs becomes damaged over an extended period of time, ultimately leading to lung cancer. Just because you are exposed to Radon does not mean that you will, in fact, get lung cancer.

According to the EPA’s Basic Radon Facts Pamphlet – “Breathing radon can increase your risk of lung cancer. Radon is the number one cause of lung cancer among people who do not smoke. It is the second leading cause of lung cancer for people who do. EPA estimates that radon causes more than 20,000 deaths from lung cancer each year in the U.S. If you smoke and your home has a high radon level, your risk of lung cancer can increase even more.”

Radon can result in a serious health risk for you and your family if you are not informed of your home levels. Testing for radon is inexpensive and easy to do. The Surgeon General recommends that all homes be tested for radon to ensure that you know the levels within your home. Contact a local certified radon specialist to test Radon levels within your home to ensure peace of mind for you and your family. For NC and SC residents, please contact Home Inspection Carolina today.

For more about the risks of radon, please visit the EPA’s website.

The post What are the risks of living in a house with high radon levels? appeared first on Home Inspection Carolina.

How is Radon Tested?

Chip Sprague — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 17:51:05 +0000

You can’t see, touch, or smell radon gases. So how do you know if you have radon in your home? The only sure way is to test for it. So how is radon tested? There are multiple ways to perform a radon test, but the two most common ways are charcoal kits and continuous monitoring devices. Let’s discuss the positives and negatives to both.

First, let’s discuss charcoal testing kits. Charcoal test kits can be purchased from your local Lowe’s, Home Depot, or Amazon. The main benefit of the charcoal test is the cost. You can purchase a kit starting from around $15.00 a kit. The process to test is relatively easy and comes with step by step instructions. After the charcoal packets have been placed out for 48 hours, you simply seal them up in the provided return package that came with your kit and mail it to the lab. Within 5-7 business days, you will receive the overall results of the levels within your home.

This is great for someone who is testing radon levels within their own home for their own insurances. However, it may not be the best option for a Real Estate transaction. Charcoal tests are very accurate, but the results can be tampered with. Durning a Real Estate transaction how would you know if the seller did or did not tamper with the charcoal packets? How would you know if the seller placed them outside? Were they removed and replaced with brand new ones? To ensure that you are protecting yourself and your family this test may not be the best option for you during a Real Estate transaction.

To provide peace of mind during a Real Estate Transaction a continuous monitoring test is recommended. How is radon tested continuously? These devices will give hourly readings of the radon levels in your home. One of the negatives to testing with this device is it’s a bit more expensive. Testing costs typically range from $150.00 to $200.00, but there is an upside. From this information, you can determine when or if levels spiked above 4.0 pCi/L. Whereas a charcoal test will only provide an overall result.

Continuous monitoring will also determine if and when someone potentially has tampered with the device, shown within the data provided from the device. If there is a power failure or if the device was unplugged. These devices typically have a backup battery to ensure that the test continues. The results are also immediately available. You don’t have to wait for lab results, meaning you can move forward with the purchase of your home with greater peace of mind.

The data from a continuous monitoring test can ultimately help you better understand the radon levels within your home and how they can fluctuate. This is why we only use continuous monitoring systems at Home Inspection Carolina. It’s also recommended that you hire a professional that is certified and professional recognized by your State, NRPP, or AARST. This helps ensure you hired someone that has been trained on how and where to test for Radon.

For further information on Radon and how it can affect your home, please visit NCRadon.org.

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What are the risks of living in a house with high radon levels?

How is Radon Tested?