Many people have never heard of Radon or know much about it. Maybe they were asked by a Real Estate Agent if they would like to have a house they are making an offer on tested, and agreed to pay for a test without truly understanding why. Or maybe they heard a radio or TV advertisement about it. Most assume it is just a ploy that sales and service people, like realtors and home inspectors, use to try to make more money off them. Sadly, that’s simply 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 absorbed by underground water sources.
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.
