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Introduction Radon mitigation systems are great ways to remove radon from your home, but they can be tricky to install. DIY radon mitigation is no small feat, but for those confident enough in their abilities we are providing step-by-step instructions to a DIY Radon Mitigation system installation. Why Do it Yourself Radon Mitigation? Radon mitigation system installation can be expensive, and if you have radon you may feel like you cannot avoid that expense. You certainly should not go without a mitigation system over the long term if you know your home has high radon levels. So, how do you mitigate the expense, as well as the radon? Perform a DIY radon mitigation installation. We hinted at this above, but it bears repeating: installing a radon mitigation system is a serious task. Check out the steps in this article to see if you’re up for it. If any part of the installation steps make you uncomfortable, hire someone to install your system. You’ll save yourself a lot of hea...

What it is, how it affects us, why it matters The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the Surgeon General’s Office have estimated that as many as 20,000 lung cancer deaths are caused each year by radon. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Radon-induced lung cancer costs the United States over $2 billion dollars per year in both direct and indirect health care costs. According to the US EPA, nearly 1 in 3 homes checked in seven states and on three Indian lands had screening levels over 4 pCi/L, the EPA’s recommended action level for radon exposure. The alpha radiation emitted by radon is the same alpha radiation emitted by other alpha generating radiation sources such as plutonium. A family whose home has radon levels of 4 pCi/L is exposed to approximately 35 times as much radiation as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would allow if that family was standing next to the fence of a radioactive waste site. An elementary school student that spends...

In most homes this is achieved by covering a crawl space with a plastic vapor barrier or drilling holes under a basement slab, and then placing a system of pipes under the barrier and/or slab that are connected to a fan we place on the outside of your house. The fan creates a negative pressure and pulls the radon outside. Radon fans are designed to run continuously and do not make audible noise.

What is radon? Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas produced by the breakdown of uranium in rocks and soils. Radon gas is tasteless, colorless and odorless. The only way to know if it is in your home is to test for it. Is radon a problem in Tennessee? Yes. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) considers radon to be a very serious problem in our state.  No matter where you live in Tennessee, there is the potential for radon to enter your home. Regardless of your zone designation or geographic location, all homes should be tested for radon. There is no zone that has no risk factor for radon. Click on the map to view radon test results across Tennessee.  The data displayed is  not  to be used as a measure of predicting whether an untested home does or does not have radon. The Tennessee Department of Health and the Tennessee Radon Program support the standing of the U.S. Environmental Protectio...

Radon gas is leading cause of lung cancer INDIANAPOLIS—Call 6 Investigates has uncovered that most Indiana schools do not test for radon gas, a carcinogen known to cause lung cancer, despite federal recommendations that all schools test at least once every five years. Radon is a radioactive, naturally occurring gas that seeps into buildings from the surrounding soil. It’s the number one cause of lung cancer among non-smokers, killing an estimated 600 people a year in Indiana and roughly 20,000 people across the country. Central Indiana students and teachers spend a lot of their time in schools, and that’s why the EPA recommends schools test for radon but Call 6 Investigates found most school districts aren’t doing it. A RADON SURVIVOR: “IT’S LIKE A DIRTY BOMB” Annie Cacciato is a wife, a mother, and a survivor. “ I have stage four lung cancer,” said Cacciato. Diagnosed in 2013, Cacciato had never smoked. Although there’s no way to prove what caused her lung cance...

It’s winter, so public health advocates once again are urging North Carolinians to test their homes for radon contamination. There is good reason to listen up. Unlike some states, North Carolina does not require builders to use construction techniques known to shield homes from radon, a known cause of lung cancer. So people dwelling in new and older untested structures remain at risk here. Radon gas can seep into a home through: cracks or gaps in floors, construction joints, cracks in walls, gaps around pipes, cavities in walls, contaminated well water. Source: EPA Invisible, odorless and cancer-causing, radon gas has been found in homes, even schools, across this state, with structures in western and some central counties at particular risk due to the geology beneath them. “You can have radon in any home. The only way to know for sure is to test,” said Catherine Rosfjord, a branch manager in the Radiation Protection Section of the North Carolina Department of Health and ...