The Surgeon General has warned that radon gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States today.  Only smoking causes more lung cancer deaths.  “Radon gas causes more deaths than home fires, drowning’s, and airplane crashes combined” [US EPA]. 

Radon is one of the densest substances that remains a gas under normal conditions.  It is also the only gas under normal conditions that only has radioactive isotopes, and is considered a health hazard due to its radioactivity.  Intense radioactivity has also hindered chemical studies of radon and only a few compounds are known.  As radon itself decays, it produces new radioactive elements called radon daughters or decay products. Unlike the gaseous radon itself, radon daughters are solids and stick to surfaces, such as dust particles in the air. If such contaminated dust is inhaled, these particles can stick to the airways of the lung and increase the risk of developing lung cancer.

 

Indoor air quality issues like radon gas can harm you and your family and the EPA recommends that you should “fix your home” if the radon level is equal to or greater than 4pCi/L.  Radon testing needs to be 48hrs at minimum, so monitors are normally set up 2 days before a home inspection or can be set up at the time of inspection.  If there is a mitigation system already installed in the home you’ll want to make sure that is working properly by having a test preformed before you buy.