Invisible Danger in Your Home

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” That advice applies to smoke detectors, carbon monoxide alarms and the care needed to avoid a myriad of household accidents. But don’t neglect to protect yourself and your families from another avoidable problem and a leading cause of lung cancer. Radon is an invisible, odourless, tasteless radioactive gas that can accumulate inside our homes. It’s a simple test that determines if you need to take action.

Radon is produced by the natural breakdown of uranium in soil and rock

It’s tragic when someone learns that radon exposure may be the cause of a lung cancer diagnosis. But thousands of deaths annually are attributed to it. It is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers and the second-leading cause overall after smoking. Yet many have never tested their homes.

Why are we neglectful when the cause of the problem is well understood?

In the sixteenth century, a mysterious respiratory illness was evident among miners in Europe. Georgius Agricola, a German physician and mineralogist, wrote about it in his 1556 work De Re Metallica. In 1879, physicians studying miners in Germany identified lung cancer as a possible explanation for the unusually high death rate.

It took decades more for scientists to uncover the full dangers of radon. The connection between exposure and lung cancer became firmly established in the 1950s, and subsequent research demonstrated that it was not confined to miners. The same naturally occurring gas could enter ordinary homes from the ground beneath.

Radon is produced by the natural breakdown of uranium in soil and rock. It seeps through cracks in foundations, gaps around pipes, floor drains and other openings. Outdoors, it disperses into the atmosphere. Indoors, particularly in enclosed lower levels of buildings, it can accumulate.

Many homes have some radon, but concentrations vary. Your neighbour's reassuring test result tells little about your own house. Neither the age of the building nor its price is a reliable indicator of safety. A new, expensive home can have elevated levels just as an older house can.

The first step is to test your home. Do-it-yourself radon test kits are available

The danger is not that a person breathes radon once or twice. It is prolonged exposure. As radon decays, radioactive particles can be inhaled and damage cells lining the lungs, increasing the risk of cancer. Smoking compounds that risk.

The first step is to test your home. Do-it-yourself radon test kits are available, or you can hire a measurement professional. Testing is best done over a period of at least three months, ideally during the fall or winter, when closed windows and heating patterns can make the results more representative of indoor exposure. Follow the kit's instructions carefully and place the detector on the lowest level of the home that you regularly occupy.

Next, understand the result. If a properly conducted long-term test exceeds acceptable levels, you need to take corrective action. There is no “risk-free” level, so the objective should be to reduce exposure as much as reasonably possible.

If levels are high, contact a certified radon mitigation professional. The most common solution involves installing a system that draws radon from beneath the foundation and vents it safely outdoors. The home should be tested again after mitigation to confirm that the system is working.

Buying a house? Ask whether a long-term radon test has been done and request the results. Renovating? Consider radon testing as part of the project, particularly if you are finishing a basement or changing how the home is ventilated. And if you have a private well, ask a qualified professional whether radon in the water warrants attention.

“Better safe than sorry.” Another easy, well used line. But you must walk the talk.

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This column offers opinions on health and wellness, not personal medical advice. Visit www.docgiff.com to learn more. For comments, diana@docgiff.com.