6 Reasons Why Mitigating Radon in Your Home Is Vital

If you haven’t heard of radon, it’s time to get educated. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that is odorless and colorless, so you can’t see or smell it. This makes it difficult to detect without the help of specialized equipment, and even then, it may not be easy to identify.

Radon exposure has been linked to increased lung cancer risk over time. But the good news is that radon testing in your home can reduce these risks significantly.

How Radon Gets into Homes

Radon is a naturally occurring gas that can enter your home through cracks in the foundation, walls, and floors. It also seeps up through soil into homes built on land with high radon levels.

Radon levels are higher during winter because windows are closed for longer periods, trapping radon indoors with you. You can see this in areas with low temperatures. As per health department reports, 40 percent of homes in Minnesota are contaminated with radon gas.

Now, we’ll discuss a few reasons why mitigating radon should be a top priority for homeowners.

Mitigating Radon Reduces Health Risks

Radon is a radioactive gas that’s present in the air you breathe. It’s the second leading cause of lung cancer, and radon exposure can also increase your risk for other types of cancer. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that radon-caused lung cancer leads to around 21,000 deaths annually.

If you want to reduce your risk of developing lung cancer or other diseases related to radon exposure, get a radon inspection done by a professional service provider. The EPA recommends testing for radon in all homes with at least one person who smokes cigarettes or has ever smoked.

If you want to get a radon inspection for your house, you can do a quick search on “radon solutions near me.” This will show a list of all the residential radon testing service providers in your locality. Once you have the list, you can narrow it down based on the service provider’s experience, case studies, and testimonials.

Going through reviews can help ensure a company can offer what it promises. For example, Affordable Environmental Services promise to bring down radon levels in your house below 2.7. The company has received a client review that the service provider will stand by its words and bring down radon levels below 2.7.

There are many other such testimonials that demonstrate how good or bad the company is. These reviews and testimonials can help you select the radon testing service provider that fits your requirements.

Mitigating Radon Improves Indoor Air Quality

Radon can enter your home through cracks in the foundation, walls, and floor. Suppose you have high radon levels in your home. In that case, it could mean there’s also a high level of other contaminants like mold spores or volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Radon mitigation systems reduce these contaminants by filtering out radon gas before it enters your living space.

Because radon exposure has been linked to lung cancer risk by several studies, including one from EPA, homeowners need to take steps toward mitigating their homes if necessary. As per Canadian guidelines, the benchmark is 200 Bq/m3, above which you must take necessary action.

Mitigating Radon Increases Your Property’s Value

The first step to mitigating radon is knowing what it is, how it affects you and your family, and the different methods available for reducing its presence in your home.

Since radon is hazardous to health, no one would like to buy a house with high radon levels. This can reduce your property’s value over time. The higher the radon levels, the lower the property’s value.

Apart from using radon ventilation fans, passive measures can reduce radon contamination by 50 percent. It will also reduce the level of molds that damage walls in the long run.

Mitigating Radon Increases Compliance With Local Regulations

Local regulations vary, but most areas have established guidelines for mitigating radon. If you’re unsure about the regulations in your area, contact the local health department or building inspector’s office and ask for information about radon mitigation requirements.

If you decide that it’s necessary to mitigate radon in your home, there are a few different ways that can happen:

• Venting: A ventilated system pulls air from beneath the house and exhausts it through an outside wall or roof vent pipe. This method increases ventilation while decreasing moisture problems within the structure by keeping moisture out of the basement area where radon gas collects most often.
• Subslab depressurization: This involves sealing off all openings between floors above grade level and installing piping below ground level. The pipings are meant to allow fresh air to be pumped into spaces between basement walls and floor slabs under pressure so as not only to draw out any existing gases but also to prevent new ones from entering.

Mitigating Radon Reduces Chances of Liability

The EPA has set the action level at four pCi/L. If you have a radon mitigation system in your home, you comply with EPA regulations and, therefore not at risk for liability.

Suppose you do not mitigate your home’s radon levels, and your home is found to have high levels of radon gas. In that case, there is potential for legal action against homeowners who do not take steps to reduce this hazard.

Mitigating Radon Gives Peace of Mind

Mitigation is a long-term solution. Radon mitigation is an investment in your home that can pay off for years. It’s a one-time cost. Once it’s installed, there are no recurring expenses. It is a permanent solution. You don’t need to worry about paying for repairs or maintenance on your radon system.

Mitigation costs less compared to other options like building materials or home improvement projects that may not address all of the issues related to high levels of radon gas in the air inside your house.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article has given you some insight into the dangers of radon and how to mitigate it in your home. Radon is a silent killer, but it doesn’t have to be if you take action now. The good news is that homeowners can protect themselves against this harmful gas in many ways, from installing ventilation systems or sealing cracks in floors and walls where radon enters from below ground level.