Radiant Radon Services
Making Homes Healthy and Safer
Can’t see it, smell it, or taste it. You must test your Home/Business/School for it.
Know your level and mitigate if elevated = saving lives by reducing radon exposure.
Radon exposure, after tobacco smoke, is the leading environmental cause of lung cancer in the United States and around the world (Copes 2007; EPA 2009a). Thus for nonsmokers, radon exposure is the leading cause of lung cancer death (EPA 2009b).
Radon is a radioactive gas that is created by the natural breakdown of uranium in the soil and rocks in the earth below us. Lighter than the surrounding soil and rock it rises to the surface of the soil and dissipates into the atmosphere. However, when it rises up beneath our homes, schools, and workplaces it often becomes trapped in the structure and builds to dangerously high levels.
General Information Links
How to test for Radon?
Methods for testing use either an Active device (Continuous Radon Monitor) or Passive devices (E-Perm®, Charcoal canisters, or charcoal liquid scintillation). The homeowner can purchase a passive or active device and test their own home or hire a professional. If you are involved in a real estate transaction, Virginia code requires that a NRPP or NRSB Certified Professional with approved and certified devices be utilized.
We offer radon testing of ‘radon in air’ and ‘radon in well water’. To schedule a professional radon test, click here or call/text us at 434-207-2600.
Our radon test results are sent the same day of device retrieval.
For Long Term testing (91-365 days) we would deploy an Alpha Track detector or Long Term electret.
For Short-Term testing (2~4 days) we have two primary methods for testing. 1.) RadonEyePro which are Continuous Radon Monitors, AC or DC powered and displays the current radon level while testing. 2.) A passive E-Perm® device made up of an electret ion chamber fabricated from conductive plastic which has an electrically charged disk of Teflon© called an ‘electret’. As radon gas breaks down, its prodigy ionizes, and the negative charged ions strike the electret reducing its charge. The electret voltage is measured pre- and post- deployment and the radon concentrations are then calculated using specific software.
My Radon levels are elevated, now what?
Any level 4.0 pCi/L or higher needs to be mitigated. You still may consider mitigation between 2.0 and 4.0 pCi/l.
We offer radon mitigation services. To schedule a FREE Radon Mitigation Quote or to schedule a Radon Mitigation, click here or call/text us at 434-207-2600.
Contact your local Certified Mitigation Contractor to develop the best plan of action in reducing your radon levels to an acceptable level, CLICK HERE (select ‘Certified for Mitigation’ and enter your ZIP Code). Another test will be necessary after mitigation to confirm the mitigation system is working correctly.
Q&A Health Concerns
Do scientists and doctors agree about the lung cancer risk of radon exposure?
For the most part, there is agreement. There is some dispute with regard to the precise number of deaths due to radon related lung cancer, but you would be hard pressed to find many individuals in the scientific community who think that radon is not a significant health problem.
The EPA recently revised their risk assessment to 21,000 radon related lung cancer deaths. The new estimate was based on the census done right after the turn of the century. This is an increase of 150% over their 1994 estimate. The American Medical Association, the American Lung Association, the World Health Organization, the Center for Disease Control, and virtually all other health organizations agree that thousands of preventable lung cancer deaths occur every year.
Are children more susceptible than adults?
Yes. As children grow their entire body is developing and growing. They are more sensitive to radon exposure because their lungs are smaller and their respiratory rate is higher. Many doctors believe that by the age of 10 a child has received twice the dose of an adult who has been exposed to the same amount of radon over the same period of time.
What about Fido and other pets?
People have asked if radon has the same effects on our pets. The answer is yes. Studies are limited, but show that radon can have the same effects on our four-legged friends in the same way they can affect humans. Since many of our pets are in the home for longer periods of time than we are, it is possible they have more exposure to radon than we do.
Does radon cause other types of cancer?
There is not definitive research that points to radon inducing other cancers. We do know, however, that surviving lung cancer patients are often stricken with other forms of cancer. While the other cancers cannot be attributed to radon, they are often a direct result of the previous cancer growth that may well have been caused by radon exposure.
How do they know that it is radon causing these health problems?
Scientists use what they call biomarkers to identify and quantify exposure to radon. Biomarkers are indicators that signal specific events within individual biological systems.
Biomarkers of exposure to radon and its progeny (often referend to as “daughters”) are found in bone, teeth, hair, urine, blood, lung tissue, and even brain tissue. These biomarkers deposited in various systems of the body show that radon does, in fact, become absorbed by the body and impart gamma (and other) radiation as it further degrades.
I live in a newly constructed home. Is it true that I don’t have to worry about radon?
No. Radon intrusion can be a problem in all types of homes – new homes, old homes, drafty homes, well insulated homes, homes with basements, crawlspace, piers or slab all can have hazardous levels of radon.
There are a number of factors that determine the level of radon in homes. The most significant is the geology of the area (the amount of uranium in the soil, porosity of the soil, etc). But construction materials, how the home was built, and other factors certainly can contribute. We never know until we test for it what the level will actually be.
Dollar Donation Pledge
One dollar of every radon test performed by Radiant Home Inspections, will be donated yearly to support radon and non-smoking lung cancer related organizations and research facilities