Is Your Home Safe from Radon?

Radon becomes hazardous when it enters homes and becomes

trapped in poorly ventilated or well-insulated areas. Radon moves

up through the soil and moves toward places with greater permeability.

Home foundations are often built with a very porous and

permeable gravel envelope surrounding the foundation, to allow for

water drainage. This also has the effect of focusing radon movement,

bringing it close to the foundation, where the radon may

enter through small cracks in the concrete, seams, spaces around

pipes, sumps, and other openings, as well as through the concrete

which may be moderately porous. Most modern homes intake less

than one percent of their air from the soil. Some homes, however,

particularly older homes with cracked or poorly sealed foundations,

low air pressure, and other entry points for radon, may intake as

much as 20 percent of their internal air from the soil. These homes

tend to have the highest concentrations of radon.

Radon can also enter the home and body through the groundwater.

Homes that rely on well water may be taking in water with

high concentrations of dissolved radon. This radon can then be

ingested, or it can be released from the water by agitation in the

home. Radon is released from high-radon water by simple activities

such as taking showers, washing dishes, or running faucets. Radon

can also come from some municipal water supplies, such as those

supplied by small towns that rely on well fields that take the

groundwater and distribute it to homes without providing a reservoir

for the water to linger in while the radon decays to the atmosphere.

Most larger cities, however, rely on reservoirs and surface

water supplies, where the radon has had a chance to escape

before being used by unsuspecting homeowners.

A greater understanding of the radon hazard risk in an area

can be obtained through mapping the potential radon concentrations

in an area. This can be done at many scales of observation.

Radon concentrations can also be measured locally to learn what

kinds of mitigation are necessary to reduce the health risks posed

by this poisonous gas.

The broadest sense of risk can be obtained by examining

regional geologic maps and determining whether or not an area is

located above potential high-uranium content rocks such as granites,

shales, and rhyolites. These maps are available through the

U.S. Geological Survey and many state geological surveys. The U.S.

Department of Energy has flown airplanes with radiation detectors

across the country and produced maps that show the measured

surface radioactivity on a regional scale. These maps give a very

good indication of the amount of background uranium concentration

in an area and thus are related to the potential risk for radon gas.

More detailed information is needed by local governments,

businesses, and homeowners to assess whether or not they need to

invest in radon remediation equipment. Geologists and environmental

scientists are able to measure local soil radon gas levels using a variety

of techniques, typically involving placing a pipe into the ground

and sucking out the soil air for measurement. Other devices may be

buried in the soil to more passively measure the formation of the damage

produced by alpha particle emission. With such information, the

radon concentrations in certain soil types can be established. This

information can be integrated with soil characteristic maps produced

by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state and county officials,

to make more regional maps of potential radon hazards and risks.

Most homeowners must resort to private measurements of

radon concentrations in their homes using commercial devices that

detect radon or measure the damage from alpha particle emission.

The measurement of radon levels in homes has become a standard

part of home sales transactions, so more data and awareness of

the problem has risen in the past 10 years. If your home or business

does have a radon problem, an engineer or contractor can simply

and cheaply (typically less than a thousand dollars for an average

home) design and build a ventilation system that can remove the

harmful radon gas, making the air safe to breathe.

impermeable soils and bedrock are unlikely to concentrate

radon beyond their natural background levels.

See also RADIOACTIVE DECAY.

rain See PRECIPITATION.

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