Many people are unfamiliar with radon or know very little about it. Perhaps a real estate agent suggested testing a home they were interested in, and they agreed without fully understanding the reasons. Or maybe they heard about it through a radio or TV advertisement. Many mistakenly believe it’s simply a tactic used by real estate professionals, such as realtors and home inspectors, to earn extra income. Unfortunately, this is not true.
In all reality, Radon gas exists in every home in North America. Nearly one in three homes in the US have indoor Radon levels high enough to lead to serious health issues. Unfortunately, you cannot escape this hazardous gas as it exists everywhere, even in the earth’s atmosphere. The real danger is when it accumulates inside of a home or other types of buildings that people spend a lot of time in, such as schools or office buildings.
To understand the health effects of Radon, one needs to understand what it is. Radon is a radioactive byproduct or progeny produced by the breakdown of other radioactive materials such as Uranium, Thorium, and Radium. It is odorless and colorless. Since Radon is a gas, it moves freely through soils and particles of rock. Radon is also water soluble and can be found underground water sources such as wells.
The time it takes for any radioactive material to lose 50% of it’s radioactivity is known as the half-life. The radioactive half-life of Radon gas is only 3.8 days. So, unlike it’s predecessors, it is short lived. However, the real danger lies in when it begins to decay or break down itself. When a Radon gas molecule is inhaled, it has a very high potential to stick to the inner lining of the lungs. When that molecule begins to break down or decay, it will release radiation in the form of Alpha particles, Beta particles, and gamma rays. All these particles and rays travel at astonishing speeds, approximately 15,000 km/s or 33.5 million miles/hour.
Although Alpha particles cannot penetrate human skin very well, they can penetrate and damage the cells that make up the lining in the lungs. Beta particles can travel through human skin and organ tissue, wreaking havoc along the way. Gamma radiation can travel through the entire human body without even trying. The cellular damage left in the wake of this radioactive decay is what leads to cancer.
According to the EPA, the Surgeon General’s office, and the CDC, Radon gas is responsible for an average of 21,000 lung cancer deaths annually in the United States alone. It is outranked by only one thing, smoking, making Radon the number one cause of lung cancer in NON-smokers.
For more information on this silent killer, be sure to read my other blog posts regarding Radon.
