What is Radon?

"Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas and comes from the natural breakdown (radioactive decay) of uranium. It is usually found in igneous rock and soil, but in some cases, well water may also be a source of radon. Radon is a cancer-causing radioactive gas. You cannot see, smell or taste radon, but it may be a problem in your home. The Surgeon General has warned that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States today. If you smoke and your home has high radon levels, you're at high risk for developing lung cancer. Some scientific studies of radon exposure indicate that children may be more sensitive to radon. This may be due to their higher respiration rate and their rapidly dividing cells, which may be more vulnerable to radiation damage."

When we were house hunting here, I recall at one house our Realtor said "This house already has a radon mitigation system." I remember thinking "a what?", made my self a mental note to ask Chad what that was and went on looking at the houses. But I forgot to ask Chad about it.

This fall we were talking with one of our neighbors and he mentioned that he checked his house for Radon. That his house had a very high level and that he had a mitigation system installed. I guess levels tend to be higher when there is digging or building near by. His mother died of lung cancer. He recommended we have our house tested.

I got a free test from the health department in early Nov. and completed the test. Our result was very high, 113.8 pCi/L . " The EPA recommends you take corrective measures to reduce your exposure to radon gas at or above 4 pCi/L." They had just finished building the house next to us, so we thought this might be why it was so high. We tested again at the end of Jan. and it was still really high, 107.7 pCi/L.

This is very frightening for me! I think as a mother you naturally worry about your children and your spouse but this information I must admit has me in a bit of a panic. We have a very high level of cancer causing gas in our home! Andrew is currently dealing with his third upper respiratory virus in probably 4-5 weeks. That is not like him, but he is exposed to more children this year because of preschool. And I hope and pray that this is the only reason he has had this many colds recently.

I have read on the Internet ( this is one site in particular that I found helpful with Radon facts/levels and to the right on the page, you can check levels in your county - for ours 65% of indoor radon levels tested were at or above 4, if the health department gives out free tests, you know it's a problem!!) I spoke with a women in charge of the radon testing at the health department. She gave me more information, told me that lung cancer is the number 3 cancer causing death in this county. She also gave me a list of contractors that are certified in installing radon mitigation systems. Chad spoke with one contractor last week who is actually out of town but supposed to get back with us early next week.

I encourage you to read about Radon, test your home for Radon and tell all the people you love to test their homes as well!!