Exposure to harmful gases can be extremely hazardous to people's health. This is especially important for buildings that accommodate large numbers of people, such as warehouses, apartment buildings, and office buildings. If you breathe in toxic gases daily without doing anything about it, you're damaging your body without seeing the consequences immediately.
One of these harmful fumes is known as radon. This natural gas can even cause lung cancer in extreme cases after long-term exposure. This is why each company should regularly check radon levels at the workplace and install a mitigation system if the levels are too high.
Some Basic Facts
If you paid attention in Chemistry class at school, you've probably heard of radon, but you might not be familiar with the details. It's natural gas, without color or odor, that can cause severe problems during long-term exposure. Even if you purify the air regularly, the gas sneaks inside your home or workplace through cracks and holes. Click here to learn more.
If left untreated, this issue could prove highly dangerous, even fatal in the future. According to the EPA, direct exposure to radon is the cause of over 20,000 deaths per year in the USA. These stats are pretty worrying, yet many people, just like smoking, choose to ignore the issue. The regret usually comes way too late when consequences finally appear on the surface.
The gas causes damage by getting through the lining of your lungs. As you breathe in more of it, it slowly starts to damage your cells through radiation. Unfortunately, common methods of air cleansing can't do much about it: it requires that a system be installed and reduce the radon levels.
Smoking and burning fuels in your household can only make things worse. Along with the radon exposure, they fill your lungs with toxins. You can reverse the situation only by taking action as soon as possible.
Inside the Household
Whether you work from home or not, you still breathe in a lot of indoor air during the day. Air purifiers are a regular part of our lives now: ventilation systems, different types of filters all serve the same purpose - getting the air as clean as possible. But, even with these precautions, certain hazards require the assistance of professionals, and radon is one of them.
You're still breathing in radon when you're outside, but the levels are significantly lower since the air isn't trapped. But if you're inside a house or apartment, the gas can build up quickly and pose significant risks for your health. However, there's no room for panic. By testing the levels, you can check whether there's any need for intervention.
How does the gas enter your home? Basic physics is in play: your place pulls radon from outside, having lower pressure than the soil. You can say that acts as a sort of a vacuum. Being a gas, it gets through different pores, cracks, or holes; it can enter through wall cavities, loose pipes, and so on.
As you can see, the imperfections in your house are a sure way for radon to lodge inside and cause damage over time. It's always a good idea to set aside funds for home repair; this doesn't mean you should renovate the whole place, but fixing cracks and holes can do wonders for your indoor air.
However, most of the radon manages to get inside through the soil. Yes, apart from flowing through the air, gases permeate the ground. Given the general characteristics of the gas, the only way to determine its levels is by testing them. Let's look at how it works.
Taking Initiative
There's simply no other way to determine radon levels than testing. You can do this either the DIY way or by hiring professionals. It's important to know that no test is perfect, but it's enough to tell you just how much of the harmful gas is under your roof.
It would be best to do tests at the lowest possible levels that serve as a living area: radon is a gas that flows freely, so testing at higher levels will not give you accurate information. Also, you'll need to shut every door and window in the house so air won't come in from outside, usually for 12 hours. Also, check the levels only in stable weather conditions - winds and storms will give you inaccurate results. Go to for more information.
The simplest way is to perform a short-term test. It's a fast and cost-effective method that lasts up to a week and uses DIY available in many stores and online. It's good for getting a general idea of the presence of the gas, but if you want the most accurate results, it's not the ideal solution.
A better way is to do long-term testing. It's based on the same principle, but you do it over three months. The prolonged period, of course, means more accurate results. As we mentioned, weather can influence the readings, so testing for a long time averages these factors out more effectively.
Finally, if you're set on doing this yourself, you could also try the monitoring option. Rather than testing, this method's based on following the radon levels over an indefinite period: it can be two days or ten years - it's up to you. You simply install a device and read the data on the screen. Not all devices are the same quality, so make sure you buy an accurate one.
Relying on Professionals
DIY is great if you want to get a general idea of the presence of radon. However, the best and most effective method by far is to hire experts to do the job. Home tests can involve user errors, while professional testers are usually highly precise in their work, plus they have advanced equipment.
These companies are there to mitigate radon successfully and make your household a safer place for you and your family. Their services offer installment, testing, and inspection using quality equipment that's far superior to any home-testing kit you might use.
And how do they go about it? Professional tests last 48 hours minimum and use the so-called continuous radon monitor, better known as RCM. By calibrating it every year, they make sure each test is dead-on. This procedure requires one preliminary measure: you should close your house for twelve hours before the check begins.
After it's finished, the technician will register the readings from the device and calculate the precise radon levels. Companies usually provide the results within only half an hour by emailing them to you. This is only true for reputable testers, though; try and find out the best in the business before you do anything.
Other Advantages of Expert Help
Perhaps you've already installed a mitigation system, but it's faulty. Luckily, experts include repairs in their services as well. From a simple fan replacement to a complete system change, they make sure your equipment's up to the task around the clock.
Their solutions are not limited to living areas only; what if you have high radon levels in your crawlspace, for example? It's tricky to get around, but trained professionals have no problems installing a mitigation system there.
One great thing about these systems is that engineers custom design them according to your home. All households are different, and each layout requires a very concrete plan. The company has to adjust the test to the building to reduce the gas levels under the EPA action level.
What about business owners? Exposing your employees to this risk is hugely irresponsible and unprofessional and could create legal trouble for you. To avoid all this, make the environment safer by hiring a team to install a commercial radon mitigation system. Ideally, the system should be installed when the building is still new, but there's no such thing as a late intervention.
Radon-reducing systems can be interior or exterior, and teams such as Radon Pros install them while you're doing your business so you won't suffer any loss in your work. Regardless of the type and purpose of the building, reducing the gas to safe levels is crucial for healthy living conditions. Customizing the system is invaluable if your place is more complex from an architectural point of view.
Protection is a Priority
To sum up, the safety of your house or workplace should always be a top priority. People often get too tangled up in everyday affairs, forgetting to take care of their health. This is especially true with radon - why test for something that you can't even see, smell or feel?
Well, the gas is one insidious troublemaker, and you should treat it as such. You don't need to be a chemistry expert to realize the dangers it presents - quick online research will tell you all you need to know. The sooner you take the initiative and protect yourself and those around you, the better - your health should always come first. There’s no doubts about that.