According to the resources I’ve encountered, it is highly recommended that everyone should have their home tested for radon to make certain that the recommended US EPA action level of 4 picoCuries per liter (pCi/L) is not exceeded. It’s not just the US EPA, but also home inspectors and public health departments recommend that everyone test their home.
Here are a couple statistics to encourage everyone to take radon seriously.
- A home inspector in Illinois finds that 40% of homes in that state have elevated levels.
- According to Florida Department of Health, in some parts of the state, more than 50% of homes have excessive radon levels.
- The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reports that excessive radon levels have been found in all 50 states; while in Colorado, approximately 50% of the homes have radon levels above the EPA recommended level.
If still not convinced and believe that it couldn’t affect you, then just listen to Eddie’s experience. He had a lung cancer scare, tested his home for radon, and found the levels to be very high. Within days he had a mitigation system installed that took care of his radon problem. He wishes that he had tested his home sooner, he might never have had to go through his health crisis.
Elevated radiation levels in your home can be fixed, but only if you test for radon, know that you have a problem, and then fix it.
