What the heck is Radon and why should we be concerned if it found a home?
It seems like there are so many scientific explanations of radon and they seem too complicated for me to understand, almost. I wanted to explain what radon is and why it's important.
This may sound too simple but as the rocks under a home get older they emit a a radioactive isotope called Radon 222 or 220. The radioactive materials from the rocks creep into our homes through cracks in the concrete, around plumbing pipes going through the concrete and from sump pits among other venues around the home. Radon gas is heavier than air, so it typically will pool in a basement or crawl space.
Let's face it, our homes are built over rocks, which allows radon to enter all homes at some time or another. The age of the house doesn't matter, the rocks are there first, so even new homes can have radon entering them. That means that even new homes could put people at risk to breathing in the radon gas. In St. Louis and St. Charles County Radon levels on an average is here . All this is depending the rocks and how much uranium happens to be in those rocks under your home. The more uranium, the better the chance you may have higher levels of Radon in your home.
I used a measurement term, pCi/l, it's how Radon is measured. How much Radon is in a cubic foot of air is all this measurement is. Because the half loss time or how long the Radon lives before disappearing is about 48 hours we find a minimum test should be 48 hours. During the test, Radon is measured in a cubic foot of air over the test period. What's in a home today and tomorrow is replaced by more Radon every day.
Radon can be removed. There are systems that remove the gas before it enters the home. Suggest clients check out several companies before making the decision to choose a company. There is a list of Certified Companies here.
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