Your home is place that you go to relax and unwind, but most importantly, it is your sanctuary. Your home is a place where you feel safe and secure. You lock your doors and windows when you need to, and maybe you have an alarm system. There are smoke detectors in every room and hallway, and maybe you even have covers on all of the outlets. Making a home truly safe is not always a simple undertaking, and there are often many more aspects that people do not think of right away that require action or attention. For example, having a company that offers residential radon testing services visit your home is a smart move and a very important part of keeping your home environment a safe and healthy one.
What is radon?
Radon is a naturally occurring gas that is a health hazard due to the radioactivity produced as radium decays. The gas is particularly dangerous because there is no real way to identify its presence without the right technology and tools. This carcinogenic gas has no visible color, and it does not have any sort of scent or taste. The United States Surgeon General has issued warnings about radon and the fact that it has been the second leading issue leading to lung cancer across the country. In fact the Surgeon General’s Office and the Environmental Protection Agency, or the EPA, are in agreement on the estimate that there could be as many as 20,000 deaths from lung cancer each year that are originally caused by radon. Companies that provide residential radon testing services, as well as specialized detectors, can give you the peace of mind that you want to find when you return home from a long day of work.
Breathing healthy air into healthy lungs
Everyone knows how unhealthy things like cigarette smoke and pollution are. The EPA, which strives to improve the state of the planet as a whole, which then improves the quality of life for everyone on it, has what is called an action level. This action level, as one might guess from the name, is the critical point that a toxic substance has grown or spread to the point that it has significantly contaminated the air, water, or other vital resources on a level that is so dangerous to life in the area that something must be done to reverse it as well as notify the public of the danger.
It has been estimated that around one in every 15 houses in the United States have levels of radon present that are at or even above that action level of the EPA. And it has been projected that the excessive number of deaths resulting from lung cancer could be diminished by at least 2% to 4% by lowering the levels of radon in those homes that are above the EPA-determined action level. While those percentages may sound like low numbers, when you look at it through the lens of individual people, 5,000 deaths are definitely significant. The first step in lowering the amounts of radon in action level homes and areas is contacting professional residential radon testing services.
Making radon testing and inspection widespread
The process does begin with proper residential radon testing services, but if there are any levels detected, there are clearly more steps to take, particularly if the amounts detected are at action level or above. The next phase would be to get in touch with a radon mitigation company that provides thorough abatement services. This can be achieved through ventilation or increasing air changes to clear the gas from the air, or through aeration or charcoal treatments for removing radon from the water supply.
Radon and other similar dangers are nothing to take lightly. Not all naturally occurring elements are safe for humans, and it is important to stay diligent in managing these toxic hazards, especially in living spaces.