What releases radon in a house?
Building materials, the water supply, and natural gas can all be sources of radon in the home. Basements allow more opportunity for soil gas entry than slab-on-grade foundations. Showering and cooking can release radon into the air by aerosolizing household water (from a well) and burning natural gas.
What is the main source of radon in our houses?
Radon is a radioactive gas that has been found in homes all over the United States. It comes from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock, and water and gets into the air you breathe. Radon typically moves up through the ground to the air above and into your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation.
What products is radon found in?
This includes all concrete products, clay bricks, most non-plastic plates and dishes, coal and the flyash produced in coal-fired power plants, natural gas (contains radon), phosphate fertilizers used in your garden (ALL contain potassium and small amounts of uranium and thorium), and the vegetables grown using those …
How does radon get into our homes?
Radon is a radioactive gas. It comes from the natural decay of uranium that is found in nearly all soils. It typically moves up through the ground to the air above and into your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation. Your home traps radon inside, where it can build up.
How does radon get in houses?
Is radon an alpha emitter?
The 220Rn isotope is a natural decay product of the most stable thorium isotope (232Th), and is commonly referred to as thoron. It has a half-life of 55.6 seconds and also emits alpha radiation.
Does radon stay in the basement?
The unfortunate answer to your question is NO, radon gas does not stay put in the basement. If you have a radon problem, there is a problem throughout your entire home, including your most lived in areas like the living room, bedrooms, and kitchen.
Where can radon gas be found in the atmosphere?
Radon is a naturally-occurring radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer. Radon gas is inert, colorless and odorless. Radon is naturally in the atmosphere in trace amounts. Outdoors, radon disperses rapidly and, generally, is not a health issue. Most radon exposure occurs inside homes, schools and workplaces.
What kind of cancer can radon gas cause?
Radon is a naturally-occurring radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer. Radon gas is inert, colorless and odorless. Radon is naturally in the atmosphere in trace amounts. Outdoors, radon disperses rapidly and, generally, is not a health issue.
How is radon gas fixed in a building?
Usually, radon problems are fixed using an underground ventilation system or by increasing the rate of air changes in the building. For more information about indoor air quality and the health risk of radon, visit Health Risk of Radon.
What is the half life of radon gas?
The rate at which a radioactive element decays is expressed as its half-life. (A half-life is the time it takes for half of a radioactive element in a sample to decay into another element.) Radon has a half-life of about three days; its daughter particles all have half-lives of less than half an hour.