Good morning, I wanted to bring you a guest post: Clearing the Air: How Radon In Your Home Impacts Your Child’s Health By Insoo Park, CEO & Founder — Ecosense, Inc.
Around the world, parents embody the sentiment “knowledge is power.” Parents or guardians — especially newer parents — endeavor to learn everything possible to protect their children’s health and safety. They make daily choices that positively affect their children’s well-being by monitoring food intake, reading labels, and ensuring they get enough exercise and play. However, while COVID-19 has understandably taken center stage over the past year, it’s important to recognize other potential hazards in our homes, such as radon exposure.
Radon awareness: Knowing the dangers
Radon is a gas that cannot be detected by the human senses because it is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. It is found in homes across the country and is the number one cause of lung cancer among non-smokers, yet many people remain unaware of this threat.
According to The World Health Organization (WHO), the percentage of lung cancers caused by radon in a particular country can range from 3% to 16%, depending on factors such as the average level of radon in the country and the prevalence of smoking among the population. For example, there are around 21,000 lung cancer deaths from radon in the U.S. every year, according to The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and more than 3,000 in Canada according to Health Canada.
Radon originates from the natural breakdown of uranium, another radioactive element found in soil, rock, and water. When uranium degrades, it releases radon gas that can enter buildings through cracks in walls and floors, gaps or holes in pipes and wires, or other openings.
According to the CDC, the air pressure in the soil around the home’s foundation is usually higher than the air pressure inside. Due to that difference in internal and external air pressure, homes act like a vacuum, drawing radon and other soil gasses through even the tiniest openings.
Educating ourselves about radon, monitoring its presence, and testing it in our homes is essential. In doing so, we can ensure the long-term health and safety of our loved ones.
Take action with proactive radon testing.
Testing your home for radon is a crucial first step in safeguarding your family’s health. Regardless of your home’s location, foundation type, or age, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advises all households to proactively test for radon to ensure levels do not meet or exceed the EPA’s action threshold of 4 pCi/L (picocurie per liter).
Luckily, the process of testing for radon is simple and affordable, with options for both do-it-yourself kits and professional testers. However, while short-term testing is commonly done with passive DIY kits like charcoal canisters, continuously active and digital monitors like those from Ecosense provide real-time results and are effective for not just short-term, but ongoing long-term monitoring.
Radon levels in your home can fluctuate from day to day, season to season, which is why it’s crucial to conduct regular testing and continuous radon monitoring, especially after significant home modifications. The EPA suggests testing every two years or immediately after making substantial changes to the home.
To ensure accurate results, conduct testing in the lowest livable level of your home — such as the basement, ground level, or above the slab — where radon accumulation is more likely to happen. If high levels of radon are detected, various mitigation techniques, like installing an active soil depressurization system or adding mechanical ventilation can be employed to lower concentrations. Taking action to reduce radon levels is imperative, as prolonged exposure can significantly increase the risk of lung cancer.
Accurate radon monitoring devices for reliable testing
When choosing a device for monitoring radon levels in your home, consider continuous digital monitors that can provide real-time readings and can detect fluctuations in radon levels due to factors such as changes in air pressure, temperature, and humidity. Active continuous monitoring solutions are more accurate than passive test kits, which yield only a single integrated average result over a period of a few days. That is because they can detect and record real-time changes in radon levels caused by building operation conditions, temperature and weather variations, or changes in air pressure.
Reputable brands offer active digital continuous monitors for both short-term and long-term monitoring of radon levels, so be sure to consider the cost and features of the device, as well as its compatibility with your home’s ventilation system.
What to do about high radon levels in your home
If you find that your home has elevated levels of radon, don’t panic. There are effective strategies you can implement to reduce your child’s exposure and improve the quality of the air they breathe.
Finding a professional contractor with expertise in radon testing and mitigation can help assess threat levels, find radon “hotspots” and seal the most obvious radon entry points, identify poorly ventilated areas, and install an affordable radon control system for your home. Soil depressurization is the most common approach to preventing radon gas from entering the house. After installing the system, you may also notice other air quality improvements, such as lower humidity.
Post-mitigation continuous radon monitoring for long-term safety
Post-mitigation monitoring is necessary to ensure the continuous safety of your home’s air quality. Once a mitigation system is installed, monitor your home’s radon levels to ensure the system is working correctly.
Continuously monitoring radon levels in your home is the best way to provide you with accurate and reliable data. By understanding the potential dangers of radon, staying aware of its effects and levels, and using reliable, accurate devices that allow you to measure its levels over both short- and long-term periods, you can take timely and appropriate action to protect your family’s health.
Insoo Park is the Founder and CEO of Ecosense with over 25 years of experience as a strategic business executive. As a key sales and business development executive, he has been an integral component of three silicon valley start-up companies — all of which have either gone public or been acquired by publicly traded companies. In addition, Insoo Park founded EcoSense, a silicon valley company raising awareness for radon and its impact on non-smokers.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
