Radon Awareness Month: Simple Steps to Ensure Your Home is Safe
Radon exposure is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, making it a critical issue for homeowners and renters alike. This week on the Thoughts from the Crawlspace podcast, Jamie Miller, CEO of Gold Key Home Inspections, Inc., delves into Radon Awareness Month and emphasizes the importance of understanding how radon enters our homes and its potential health risks. Jamie covers the origins of radon gas, its accumulation in tightly sealed houses, and the significant dangers it presents, especially for smokers. Listen to learn about testing methods available, recommended action levels, and the effectiveness of radon mitigation systems.
Connect with Gold Key Inspection Services!
Episode Highlights
- Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can accumulate in homes, posing health risks.
- Testing for radon is the only way to determine its presence and concentration in your home.
- The EPA recommends taking action if radon levels are 4 picocuries per liter or higher.
- Newer, tightly sealed homes can trap radon, making monitoring even more crucial for homeowners.
Timestamps
(00:00) Intro
(03:29) Understanding Radon and Its Impact
(07:55) Testing for Radon: Methods and Best Practices
(18:02) Mitigation Strategies for Radon Levels
(21:43) Understanding Radon and Its Impact on Home Value
Transcript
Welcome to Thoughts from the Crawl Space, a podcast where our goal as home inspection experts is to support and serve our community.
Speaker A:Whether you're a homeowner, home buyer, real estate agent, or investor, we believe everyone deserves solutions to their homeownership challenges and inspiration along the way.
Speaker A:Your path to success starts here.
Speaker A:Welcome in today to another episode.
Speaker A:Today we're going to talk about something that's coming up here next month, and that is Radon Awareness Month.
Speaker A:Primarily today we're going to talk about radon, what it is, why it's a concern, what you can do about it and all that.
Speaker A:So let's just jump right in.
Speaker A:What is radon gas?
Speaker A:Well, radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas that naturally occurs.
Speaker A:I mean, from the decay of uranium, thorium, and radium in the earth's crust.
Speaker A:So in layman's terms, it's coming from the soil, all right?
Speaker A:It is naturally occurring in that.
Speaker A:You can't stop it.
Speaker A:And it's everywhere.
Speaker A:If you take a radon monitor outside and set it out there, you're going to get a reading of some sort, all right?
Speaker A:And that's not a problem.
Speaker A:What becomes a problem is if it gets trapped in your house, all right?
Speaker A:You have high levels seeping into your house, and that's why we do testing, and that's why we can tell how high the radon level is.
Speaker A:Why is it a concern?
Speaker A:Radon exposure is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, all right?
Speaker A:Right behind smoking.
Speaker A:If you're a smoker, you have an exponentially higher risk of developing lung cancer from radon.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:Part of the reason is one, both things are bad for your lungs.
Speaker A:But another important reason is if you smoke in your house, there's a lot of particulates FL floating through the air microscopically.
Speaker A:And radon, when it seeps into a house, will attach itself to particulates floating in the air.
Speaker A:And the more particulates you have, the more it's going to attach and the more that you're going to breathe in.
Speaker A:So that's why radon for smokers is exponentially worse.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:They estimate around 21,000 deaths per year occur from radon.
Speaker A:And it's dangerous because it accumulates in enclosed places.
Speaker A:You know, one of the building technologies that's improved over the years is how tight your house is.
Speaker A:In other words, we don't have a lot of draftiness.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:In fact, some houses are so tight, you have to bring in outside air so that the heater, the heating and cooling functions work properly, especially the heating, so we get the right combustion air and makeup air and so forth.
Speaker A:But because of that, houses don't evacuate bad air as much.
Speaker A:They don't have as many air exchanges.
Speaker A:And so radon can build up in a house more quickly in the newer, tight houses than they do in an old, drafty house.
Speaker A:If you have an old house with no or very little insulation in the walls, and you can feel air coming in at the windows or the outlets or the switches or wherever, chances of having radon accumulate too much in the house are pretty slim.
Speaker A:Ultimately, it depends on what's coming in underneath.
Speaker A:But the more air exchanges, the more ventilation you have in your house, the better off you're going to be.
Speaker A:So we talked about what it is.
Speaker A:So how does it get there?
Speaker A:Radon originates from the decay of radioactive materials.
Speaker A:We talked about that previously.
Speaker A:That is uranium, thorium, and radium, all right in the earth's crust.
Speaker A:As that breaks down, it seeps in through soil cracks in your concrete foundation.
Speaker A:It seeps in through sump pits.
Speaker A:If you have pipes coming up through the foundation, it'll seep through that.
Speaker A:And so it also, besides just air, it can also enter in through water wells.
Speaker A:Now, this is not as well known.
Speaker A:You.
Speaker A:You can get radon testing done on your water.
Speaker A:It's expensive, and it's very uncommon to have extremely high levels that cause lung cancer, because, remember, lung cancer is where it's at with regard to the health effects.
Speaker A:And so if you're drinking water, you're not getting the same effects as you are breathing it in.
Speaker A:Now, if you have a shower and as water comes out with high levels of radon in it, you do get some.
Speaker A:That's airborne.
Speaker A:But experts, the people that study this stuff, it doesn't typically cause near the same health effects as just direct air that you breathe in every day.
Speaker A:So certainly something to consider, but not as much as just your air level in your house.
Speaker A:So what are some of the factors affecting radon levels?
Speaker A:Well, soil composition, geography, and local geology.
Speaker A:For example, radon migrates through the, I guess you would call it the weakest link in the soil through the easiest paths.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:And so if you have openings in the soil, a vein in the soil opens up, new construction can do that.
Speaker A:If you live in a subdivision that's always growing and having new construction and you have.
Speaker A:You think you have a low radon level, new pathways can be opened up geologically through excavation and new building.
Speaker A:And so that's a factor in how much radon you have and also the ventilation in your house in a home basement or crawl space.
Speaker A:This is not scientific, but I would say of all the houses we have tested over the years, and I would say we've probably tested 5,000 houses for radon over the years.
Speaker A:When we have a crawl space that's vented, I can't ever remember having an elevated test.
Speaker A:You still have some radon, but because it's constantly ventilated or ventilated, well, you're essentially checking outside air and not.
Speaker A:And you're not getting that concentration into the house.
Speaker A:Now if you have a crawl space that's not ventilated, there's some out there like that.
Speaker A:Well, that's different because you don't have those air exchanges going on to dilute the concentrations.
Speaker A:So how does this affect the body?
Speaker A:What are your health risks at this time?
Speaker A:Really the only proven health risk associated with radon is lung cancer.
Speaker A:There are some studies that indicate long term exposure may affect cancers in other parts, but that really hasn't been proven or, you know, there's no consensus on that.
Speaker A:But radon produces radioactive particles that when inhaled, can damage lung tissue and increase the risk of lung cancer.
Speaker A:Over time, the damage leads to mutations in cells which eventually result in cancer.
Speaker A:So you breathe this in and as it breaks down, it releases an alpha particle that damages the DNA in your lung cells, which can create the deformities, the mutations, and lead to the risk.
Speaker A:As mentioned before, smokers are at a higher risk of that because one, you're already damaging them.
Speaker A:You're already reducing your immune system's response.
Speaker A:And then you throw radon in there and that even causes problems even more.
Speaker A:So how do you know if you have it?
Speaker A:Well, the only way to know is to test it.
Speaker A:There's a lot of myths out there.
Speaker A:One of the myths is I don't feel itchy, I don't have any radon, or I don't smoke, smell it, or I have an old house, or I have a new house, or I live on a slab.
Speaker A:There's a lot of different myths about radon, which we'll address some of those today.
Speaker A:But testing is always the only way to know.
Speaker A:Now, how can you test?
Speaker A:There's two ways to test.
Speaker A:One is a short term test and those are from two to seven days.
Speaker A:And the other is a long term test which is typically 90 days.
Speaker A:My recommendation is if you live in your home currently and want to know is that you do a 90 day test.
Speaker A:You can get these tests online, go online, Amazon, order A long term radon test, last I checked, they were maybe in the forty to fifty dollar range.
Speaker A:And you would just take the canister that comes, you would set it in an area that is out of the way so nobody's going to be messing with it.
Speaker A:Could be the top of your refrigerator, the top of your cabinets, wherever, and live normally.
Speaker A:And the way.
Speaker A:And the reason I say normally is because on a short term test there are protocols that must be followed.
Speaker A:This is especially true in a radon test for a real estate transaction.
Speaker A:All right, there's a real estate transaction guide and then there's a citizen's guide to radon.
Speaker A:Here's the difference.
Speaker A:In a real estate transaction, the test kit must be put or the test monitor, whatever you choose, must be put in the lowest level suitable for occupancy.
Speaker A:In other words, you may have an unfinished basement that nobody lives in, but it could be suitable to live in.
Speaker A:And that's where we would put the radon monitor.
Speaker A:In a non real estate transaction, you want to put the monitor in the lowest lived in level.
Speaker A:So if you have an unfinished basement, you got nothing down there, you're going to put it on the level that you live in.
Speaker A:The reason that's a difference is because if we do a real estate transaction test, whoever's buying that house may use the house in a different manner than what you currently do.
Speaker A:So that's why we're required to put it in the lowest level suitable for occupancy.
Speaker A:Sometimes that's a gray area, a Michigan basement, you know, where you have potentially a dirt floor or old concrete or there's nothing down there but the furnace, maybe the laundry.
Speaker A:You put it down there.
Speaker A:Well, it depends.
Speaker A:Sometimes that's up to the tester's judgment on where they should do that.
Speaker A:But back to the testing, you can get DIY test kits for short term or long term.
Speaker A:The short term is two to seven days.
Speaker A:Now, why that matters is when you do a short term test, one of the protocols you have to follow, besides where you set it is you got to keep your windows closed.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:So if you're in the summer, you don't have air conditioning and it's hot, you're probably not going to want to do that test if you can all help it.
Speaker A:Because you can't open your windows because that will dilute the air unnaturally.
Speaker A:And we want to.
Speaker A:When you just do a two day test, that's not going to be typically as accurate as a long term test, but it is EPA approved for using A real estate transaction, especially if you're using like a continuous radon monitor.
Speaker A:So you have canisters that you can buy.
Speaker A:It's basically activated charcoal that you'll then send into a lab.
Speaker A:Or there are continuous radon monitors and those are just little devices that sit there and read the humidity, they read the pressure in the house, they read the radon level, and they give you a much more detailed reading of your radon level.
Speaker A:And why do you need detail?
Speaker A:Because you need to know what time of day it goes up, what time of day it goes down.
Speaker A:Radon constantly is fluctuating.
Speaker A:And so if you just have a static test going on with a charcoal, activated charcoal canister, you don't know if some of these things happened to affect the test results.
Speaker A:Did somebody open windows?
Speaker A:Did a storm system come through and unnaturally create negative pressure on your house?
Speaker A:If the barometric pressure drops dramatically, that's going to affect the radon level.
Speaker A:It drives radon into your home and can create a high reading when there really isn't a problem.
Speaker A:And so that's why I would recommend always in a short term test using a continuous monitor.
Speaker A:And that's going to give you the most accurate results.
Speaker A:If you're just doing this on your own, then an anomaly like a storm, it doesn't matter as much because it's going to average out and you're opening your windows anyhow.
Speaker A:So short term test, you got to hire, you got to follow the protocols for short term testing.
Speaker A:90 days, you're not going to have that kind of requirement.
Speaker A:So when to test?
Speaker A:It's best to test during the colder months when windows and doors are typically closed, as this will give you a more accurate reading of what builds up in your home.
Speaker A:Now that may not be accurate in your situation.
Speaker A:Maybe you open your windows all summer, all spring, all fall, and you even crack a window in the winter to allow natural air in.
Speaker A:So whatever is natural for you is how you should test on a long term test.
Speaker A:So what are we testing for exactly?
Speaker A:What's a number?
Speaker A:You know, give me some numbers on this.
Speaker A:Well, the EPA recommends taking action to reduce levels of radon if the concentration is 4 picocuries per liter of air or higher.
Speaker A:For a picocuries is a radiation measurement and that's abbreviated by PCI/L.
Speaker A:So it's picocuries PCI divided by liters of air.
Speaker A:And we want to go by a number four.
Speaker A:If you have a level that comes back at 3.9, that's considered acceptable.
Speaker A:If it's 4.0 or higher.
Speaker A:That's considered elevated and they recommend that you take an action on that.
Speaker A:Now let's talk about real estate transactions and what that means.
Speaker A:Number one, if you have a level of 3.9, 3.8, whatever, you're really close.
Speaker A:And by the letter of the law, or there actually is no law, by the letter of recommendation, you don't need to take action.
Speaker A:If you're a 4.0 or higher, they recommend you take action.
Speaker A:Typically in a real estate action or a transaction, you will have somebody put in a remediation system, but it's not legally required.
Speaker A:And that's important to know.
Speaker A:Now what happens if you, let's say your level comes back at 4.6 or 6 or 8 or what does that mean?
Speaker A:Well, all it means is it roughly increases your chances by double as the numbers double.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:However, just to give perspective, sometimes when you get like four, that's equivalent to smoking.
Speaker A:Now I think if you were exposed to that over the course of a lifetime, it's equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes a week.
Speaker A:All right, which is pretty high.
Speaker A:But we've had homes where you have readings at 45 or 60.
Speaker A:We've even had them over 200.
Speaker A:So imagine the risk that that creates for you.
Speaker A:And if you're at 4 or 5 and you're worried about that, yeah, it probably should be lowered, but that's not near the risk that we can see.
Speaker A:Sometimes it's a relatively low risk compared to some of the higher numbers.
Speaker A:So for a comparison, the average outdoor radon level, remember I said it's naturally occurring, so it's you're always going to get a reading somewhere is 0.4.
Speaker A:So if you just move the decimal one place, 10 times the outdoor average is what the limit is inside.
Speaker A:Remember we talked about it builds up in homes and that's what we're testing for.
Speaker A:So if you're at 4.0, you're roughly 10 times the outdoor limit, but it's still relatively low compared to some of the readings we can get.
Speaker A:Now we'll touch on this in a little bit, a little bit more.
Speaker A:The area of the country Indiana is in is in zone four.
Speaker A:As far as there's five zones, all right, like down south, Arizona, Florida, you're going to be in a really low zone.
Speaker A:Chance of radon, they got a lot of sand, especially in Florida, the preponderance of radon is low.
Speaker A:We're in Zone 4, whereas 5 would be more the Northeast Corridor, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, and those areas there where you're more likely to get a 200 reading or something like that.
Speaker A:Radon was first discovered in the 40s in uranium mines in Pennsylvania where miners, perfectly healthy young men, were developing lung cancer and dropping dead.
Speaker A:And so those areas through Pennsylvania and New Jersey and so forth, typically have higher levels than we do here, but we do in Indiana.
Speaker A:We still do.
Speaker A:We're relatively high in the radon way of things.
Speaker A:And so you definitely should get your home tested whenever you think about that or when you have a, if you're buying one, definitely.
Speaker A:But even if you live in it, you want to know what you're living in.
Speaker A:If you live in the basement, you have any even higher chance because the lower to the ground it is, the more concentrated the radon is going to be.
Speaker A:This is not scientific, but in general, if you have a two story house with a basement, whatever level you have in the basement, it's going to roughly reduce by about a third as you go up.
Speaker A:So if you have a level of nine on the basement, you might have six on the main floor and three on the top floor.
Speaker A:So that's, that's kind of a rough guideline on what you might see on your radon concentration.
Speaker A:So if you do a lot of living in the basement, somebody sleeps down there, family room down there, whatever, definitely want to get it checked.
Speaker A:But it can be everywhere.
Speaker A:So don't, don't go just by that.
Speaker A:Let's talk about what you do about it.
Speaker A:If you have a problem, let's say you have a test that comes back, it's above 4.0, you want to get a mitigation system.
Speaker A:Radon mitigation is simply putting in a system to evacuate the radon.
Speaker A:And essentially it comes down to you're, you're depressurizing the house.
Speaker A:Part of what drives radon into a house is the negative pressure on a house.
Speaker A:So you have radon through, you know, you run an exhaust fan.
Speaker A:Where's that getting the air?
Speaker A:What's getting the air from the house?
Speaker A:Well, how's that air replaced?
Speaker A:Well, it's getting sucked in through something, through an opening in the house.
Speaker A:And so that sucks in radon.
Speaker A:So any negative pressure on your house will do that.
Speaker A:And so if you put in a sub slab depressurization cell system, that's going to depressurize the house and allow radon to naturally flow to a pipe system that goes down through the basement floor or into the sump pump or through a slab floor.
Speaker A:And that will draw the radon because you have a fan in line of the pipe which is constantly pulling.
Speaker A:All right, so putting in a depressurization system, sealing any cracks and openings, any radon mitigator that puts in a sub slab depressurations, easy for me to say.
Speaker A:Depressurization system is also going to seal slabs and openings could be around the perimeter of your basement, perimeter of your home.
Speaker A:They're going to increase ventilation.
Speaker A:If you have a sump pit with drain tile going to it, that is an excellent area to put in a radon mitigation system because in that case the fan essentially is drawing air through all the pipes around the perimeter of your home.
Speaker A:And that's a very effective way to mitigate radon.
Speaker A:So what's the cost of a radon mitigation system?
Speaker A:Typically?
Speaker A:And our company does not do radon mitigation.
Speaker A: to: Speaker A:And this depends on the size of the home.
Speaker A:It depends if you have sump pump, it depends on your foundation.
Speaker A:If you have a crawl space and you need to have it encapsulated along with the system, that can get quite a bit more expensive.
Speaker A:So you're going to.
Speaker A:If you have a really long house and it's a slab, they may have to put in different depressurization systems at different parts of the home.
Speaker A:So the more you put in, the more labor, the more cost.
Speaker A:But typically in a standard home with a basement, we've seen in the twelve hundred dollar range, maybe fourteen hundred dollars, prices keep going up like everything else.
Speaker A:But that's what mitigation would run as far as a radon test.
Speaker A:Radon tests run from, you know, if you use a system or a company that's going to use continuous monitors, it's going to be roughly 150 to 180.
Speaker A:In the Northeast, I know where 95% of homes get tested for radon, it's probably going to be 225 just because, well, the cost of living is higher up there and it's a more common test.
Speaker A:So 150 to 180 for the test.
Speaker A:$1,200 for remediation is kind of a common way.
Speaker A:So it's not cheap, but it's not life changing money either on either end of that.
Speaker A:So we talked about radon and real estate.
Speaker A:So if you're buying or selling a home, if high levels are found, the seller may agree to pay for mitigation.
Speaker A:This might be part of the negotiations.
Speaker A:That's why we require it prior to closing.
Speaker A:If not, once you find it out after you live there, you're on your own to cover that.
Speaker A:Does radon affect home value?
Speaker A:And I don't think it does.
Speaker A: ioned, you might be into this: Speaker A:You get a test and a mitigation system system, and that's not going to really put much dent into it.
Speaker A:Some buyers are afraid of buying a house that has a depressurization system, but in my view, that's an asset because you've already addressed the problem and the new buyer doesn't have to deal with that.
Speaker A:All right, so here's a couple of more myths about radon.
Speaker A:It's only a problem in certain areas.
Speaker A:Radon can be found in any home, regardless of location.
Speaker A:Although certain regions like the Rocky Mountain states, parts of the Midwest and the Northeast tend to have higher levels.
Speaker A:That's just a fact.
Speaker A:But homes in the South, Texas, very low occurrences of it, but it's still there.
Speaker A:Radon levels Myth number two, Radon levels are constant.
Speaker A:False.
Speaker A:They constantly fluctuate due to weather, ventilation, barometric pressure.
Speaker A:Testing is the only way to know current levels.
Speaker A:3.
Speaker A:Radon mitigation is too expensive.
Speaker A:We just covered that.
Speaker A:We talked about how much it is and it's affordable and can greatly reduce your health risk.
Speaker A:So steps you can take today, pick up the phone, give us a call, get a test ordered, we can come do it.
Speaker A:The test will take 48 hours and you will have results that either give you complete peace of mind or can give you the action needed, the data needed to take action to reduce it, which is relatively easy as well.
Speaker A:So it's not something to be afraid of.
Speaker A:It's something to take seriously, not something to be afraid of.
Speaker A:And if they're high, we recommend getting a professional to take care of it.
Speaker A:If you're pretty handy, there are times you can do it yourself.
Speaker A:There's, there's information online on how to create your own radon mitigation system that you might be able to do that.
Speaker A:So just to summarize, radon is colorless, odorless, and it can lead to serious health issues.
Speaker A:Testing is easy and inexpensive.
Speaker A:Mitigation is very effective at reducing the level of it.
Speaker A:And if you have any concern about this, I would suggest calling us doing your own research and then you can go to the EPA site on radon information to get more to get more data to help you make your decision.
Speaker A:So thanks for listening today.
Speaker A:Look forward to hearing from you.
Speaker A:Please share this podcast.
Speaker A:You are our best advertiser and the more you share it, the more it helps us and we'd appreciate it.
Speaker A:We appreciate listening and have a great day.
Speaker A:Thank you for listening this week.
Speaker A:Week you can catch up on the latest episode of the Thoughts from the Crawl Space podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Speaker A:For more information about Gold Key Inspection services, go to goldkeyinspect.com.
