When buying a home, there are plenty of considerations to undertake, including finding out how safe the neighborhood is, if the home is built well, and if you are in a flood zone. Another consideration that often goes unnoticed, but can pose a significant threat to your family’s health, is radon.
By Insoo Park, Founder — Ecosense
Radon is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that can be found in the rock and soil under and around a home’s foundation. If not detected and mitigated, long-term exposure to this radioactive gas can be deadly.
Often considered a “silent threat,” radon exposure over time can also lead to lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The risk of lung cancer derived from long-term radon exposure could be especially high in children, due to differences in their lung shape and size, so families should be especially concerned about the effects it can have on their health.
Many people may not give radon a second thought until they buy or sell a house, and a test for the presence of radon is either required or highly recommended. According to the EPA, while there is no known threshold concentration below which radon exposure presents no risk, the situation should be mitigated if radon levels rise to or exceed 4 pCi/L (picocuries per liter).
Protecting loved ones with continuous radon monitoring
A single test done to detect radon levels when buying or selling a home may not be sufficient to keep those living in the home safe. Radon can enter homes through cracks or openings in the foundation, with the differences in air pressure inside the home and the soil around it playing an important role in the entry of radon. Since air pressure is typically lower inside the home than in the surrounding soil, it acts as a vacuum to draw radon into the home, where it can adversely affect those living inside.
Even though rooms closest to the foundation are the most vulnerable to radon seepage, the other areas of one’s home can also be affected. Homeowners should employ an accurate radon monitor that not only provides the current radon concentration but continuously monitors the levels over weeks or years.
Since radon levels fluctuate all the time, the continuous radon monitors available to consumers and homeowners can give people tremendous peace of mind. With these types of detectors, fluctuations in radon levels can be detected before they become major, health-impacting issues. If the average indoor radon levels are 4 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) or higher, the EPA recommends fixing the home.
Radon mitigation
Because there is no completely safe level of radon, the EPA recommends homeowners consider remediation if levels are between 2 and 3.9 pCi/L, but homeowners who see average readings of 4 pCi/L or more should seek a mitigation solution immediately. This is especially important if you are looking to sell your home, where solving a radon problem could be necessary to close the deal.
Homeowners should seek the help of a licensed radon mitigation expert in their area if levels are found to be too high. The expert will come in, assess what needs to be done, and suggest solutions to the radon problem. The most popular solution relied upon by radon mitigation experts is called activated soil depressurization.
With this approach, mitigation experts install a suction pipe through the home’s ground-floor slab (or crawl space membrane) directly into the gravel or soil beneath. An inline fan and pipe system then diverts the soil gas to an exhaust point above the roof — where the radon dissipates. This technique can lower radon concentrations by up to 99%.
Other mitigation options include energy-recovery ventilation systems, which can dilute the radon by as much as 50% while efficiently providing more ventilation air. Once the presence of radon is mitigated, a continuous radon monitor can alert you if the mitigation measures are inadequate or quit operating.
Continuous radon monitoring after mitigation
Radon vigilance should not stop at mitigation, however. Homeowners should not only ensure that the mitigation system is adequately installed and functioning correctly, but also that it possesses sufficient capabilities to measure ongoing fluctuations in radon levels inside their homes. Therefore, the need for continuous monitoring persists, emphasizing the importance of ongoing monitoring post-mitigation.
Radon — though known to be a deadly issue if not addressed — needn’t be a worry if homeowners are aware, educated, and willing to mitigate and continuously monitor the situation. With regular radon monitoring, families can rest assured that they are safe and sound in their homes long-term.
