If you have been wondering whether or not to hire a radon testing company for your home, you might want to consider doing that sooner rather than later. Radon is a cancer-causing radioactive gas that is almost impossible to detect just by making a cursory check on your own. You cannot see, smell, or taste radon and all the while might be slowly destroying your life.
According to the Surgeon General, radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, right behind smoking. If you smoke and have radon in your home, you obviously have an even high risk of developing lung cancer. Children, according to some scientific studies, are at an even greater risk of developing lung cancer than adults because they might be even more sensitive to the gas. Some theories point to the fact that children have higher respiration rates. In addition, their rapidly dividing cells make them much more vulnerable as they continue to grow and develop their lung capacity and function.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of the Surgeon General estimate that upwards of 20,000 lung cancer deaths are caused by radon poisoning every year. These deaths could be reduced anywhere from two to four percent if radon levels in homes were reduced to below EPA action level standards.
You might not think that radon is a problem for you in your home and that you do not need the services of a radon testing company, but the odds are not necessarily in your favor. Studies have estimated that one out of every fifteen homes in the United States has radon levels either at or above the EPA designated action level.
Radon mitigation and abatement is a process that can bring the radon levels back down to the point where they are no longer damaging. Residential radon testing that comes back with levels that are too high should then be followed immediately with a plan to reduce those levels. The process used to reduce radon gas concentrations in the breathing zones is one of ventilation or increasing the air changes per hour in the building in question.
Radon levels in the air fluctuate naturally on a daily basis. You can even see the fluctuations of these levels on a seasonal basis, as well. Because of this, a short term test might not be good enough to determine the real danger. The different seasons might bring with them different wind changes and the radon that didn’t show up in the fall, for example, might be very dangerous in the winter. In addition to the seasonal changes themselves, the way we operate our homes could be a factor. In other words, you might have your windows open in the spring, but the summer you might have everything closed because you have the air conditioner running.
A radon testing company will have all of the tools and the know how to test for radon in your home in the proper way. You might not think that having your home tested is necessary, but if you have lived in your home for many years and have never had a test done, you might rest more soundly if you can know for sure that radon is not silently and slowly killing you and your family.
Smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer in the United States today. Many people have quit smoking or have never smoked, to begin with, because they did not want to contract the disease. But, you don’t have to look too far to find someone who has contracted lung cancer and they never smoked a cigarette in their lives. That isn’t to say that it is radon that caused it, but it is a safe bet since radon is the second leading cause.
If you have stayed away from smoking, you are probably in a good position to have successfully stayed away from the number one cause of lung cancer. Why not stay away from the second leading cause, as well? Find a radon testing company today and sleep soundly for the rest of your life.