Radon testing for your home is something that just about every person should be aware of and taking advantage of. After all, radon testing of any kind can help to determine next steps for radon mitigation. And residential radon testing is relatively commonplace. There are even two main kinds of testing utilized to conduct this process, both short term tests, which span from 2 days to 90 days, and long term tests, which can be used past that 90 day mark. The type of test that is used for radon testing in your home will vary on a number of factors, even the radon testing company that you go with.
But why is radon testing and inspection so very important? Sadly, radon can have long term impacts on your health. Your chances of contracting lung cancer, for instance, actually even climb by more than 15% (by 16% to be just a bit more specific) for every increase of 100 Bq/m of radon throughout your home. As a matter of fact, radon exposure has actually become one of the topmost causes of lung cancer in this country, the United States, coming in second to tobacco usage and smoking alone. Tragically, this means that radon exposure will lead to more than 20,000 people dying of lung cancer over the course of a single year, a number that has only increased with the passage of time. This should come as no real surprise when you realize that a home with radon levels meeting or exceeding the action level that has been set by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) actually exposes its residents to up to 35 times the radiation they would sustain if they were standing at the fence of a radioactive waste site, a truly jarring comparison indeed.
And, sadly, not enough people know just how prevalent radon in homes is. As a matter of fact, it’s quite prevalent indeed. It has even been found that one home out of every fifteen here in the United States alone has radon levels that are high enough to meet or even exceed the above mentioned action level that has been set by the EPA. And in some specific parts of the country, matters are certainly much worse. The data that has been gathered on the subject is more than in support of this claim, having found that up to seven states have concentrations of radon that are so high as to find that up to one third of all homes have these very high levels of radon found within them. And up to one third of all homes on around three Native American reservations tested positive for high levels of radon as well.
But regular radon testing through radon testing companies or even just a radon testing contractor can make a difference. After all, radon testing can lead to the aid of radon mitigation companies, who can lower the amount of radon in your home by what ends up being a truly considerable amount. After all, even passive methods of radon mitigation have been known to decrease overall radon levels by as much as half. And something like a radon ventilation fan can be used by residential radon testing services and radon mitigation services as well. The impact of this would be truly beneficial across the board, as cutting back levels of radon to below that EPA action level would save countless lives here in the United States, even reducing the total number of lung cancer deaths by as much as a full 4% – which is no small amount in the grand scheme of things, to say the very least.
Ultimately, radon is something to take seriously, as long term exposure to high levels of radon can lead to health issues like lung cancer – and even death as a result of them. Fortunately, however, radon testing services are becoming more widespread, and radon mitigation effectiveness is higher than ever. A radon abatement service can effectively improve the overall safety of your home and widespread radon testing can help to cut back on these frightening numbers of radon related lung cancer deaths seen so commonly here in the United States.
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