It is difficult for people to accept that their home, a place that one looks to for security, is hiding invisible danger. People spend most of their time at home - on average 70%, but more in case of women and particularly, children. When they shoot out alpha particles, they damage the DNA of epithelial cells, causing mutations and lung cancer. The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) limits cumulative radon exposure in the workplace to 30 pCi/L based on 40 working hours per week. Find a Radon Professional WHAT IS A SAFE RADON LEVEL? EPA Action Level Buying or Selling YOUR HOME? Learn more about the results of the Federal Radon Action Plan and launching the expanded National Radon Action Plan. Background radiation levels are a combination of terrestrial (radium, thorium, radon, etc.) Yet, the average person receives a higher radiation dose from radon at home than from all other natural or man-made sources combined. The higher the level and the longer the period of exposure, the greater the risk will be. Its 5-year survival rate is only 10–14 percent and thus, it costs only several billion dollars per year. It is merely the result of a macroeconomic cost/benefit analysis for the US population at large. Radon produces tiny radioactive particles in the air we breathe. Setting the limit at 4 pCi/L benefits (but does not necessarily save) only 30% of the 21,000 people that die each year of radon-attributed lung cancer, while a lower limit of 2 pCi/L would benefit 50%. Copyright © 1998-2021 Novion Radon Mitigation & Concrete Waterproofing, a higher radiation dose from radon at home than from all other natural or man-made sources combined, 0.4 pCi/L as the target radon level for homes, the 4 pCi/L action limit is not a "safe" level, cancer risk from radon at the "action" limit is about 1,000-times higher, Most radon-attributed deaths (70%) are caused by radon levels lower than 4 pCi/L, the EPA "action" level of 4 pCi/L increases the lung cancer risk by 50 percent, Lung Cancer Prevention Starts with Radon Mitigation. You should always try to reduce radon to a practical minimum - if you just settle for 4 pCi/L, your home will be more radioactive than 94% of US homes: The concentration of radon gas is not measured directly but rather by the radioactivity it produces. Save a life. However, two thirds of the total effective radiation dose to the average American from all natural sources comes from radon and its progeny. The "action" limit is based on the average cost of a radon mitigation system in 1980s – $1,200. Radon can have a big impact on indoor air quality. Here are a few pages to read that may help – How to remove radon gas from basements and crawl spaces. 1-800-644-6999*– Radon Fix-It Hotline for general information on fixing or reducing the radon level in your home. Nearly 8 million US homes, or 1 out of every 15, have radon levels above the EPA's 4 pCi/L "action" limit and nearly 1 out of 6 exceed the EPA's 2 pCi/L "consider action" limit. For more information about radon in drinking water please call the state radon office or the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791. Radon in homes is more concentrated and far more dangerous than outdoors - the National Academy of Sciences estimates that the outdoor radon causes only 800 out of the total of 21,000 lung cancer The long-wave radiation is infrared and it warms the skin. In an average basement, 38 million atoms will undergo radioactive decay each hour. This 5-year study proves that radon even at the low levels found in homes causes lung cancer and that the risk is proportional to the radon level. The best radon level measurement would be zero. Radon can also enter the home through well water but usually carries little risk in Kentucky. Cosmic radiation consists of a variety of very energetic particles, including protons, muons, and neutrinos, which bombard the earth from outer space. Considering the high cost of mitigation methods available to homeowners in 1980s (averaging $1,200 but up to $2,500), EPA issued its recommendations: EPA did not want to force homeowners to install costly radon mitigation systems, leaving the decision up to each homeowner. Radon causes more deaths than fires, drownings, and airplane crashes combined. As the US EPA explains, there is no safe level of radon, a radioactive gas which causes lung cancer, the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR. How radon sneaks into homes. (Nuclear explosions emit one more radiation - neutrons.) Test your home today. The President's Cancer Panel issued its "Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now" in 2010. The societal cost of mitigating all homes to a 4 pCi/L level was estimated at $44 billion but that would rise to $101 billion if the action level was set at 2 pCi/L. The Chernobyl disaster was caused by a nuclear accident that occurred on Saturday 26 April 1986, at the No. Though radon levels in water aren’t usually high enough to significantly impact the levels of radon in the air, you can take steps to reduce the radon in your water, if necessary. Unlike radon levels in homes, occupational radon limits are governed by law and regulations. 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