Radon:How Do You Know You Are In Danger
By: Brittany Sweeney
Updated: January 26, 2013
A deadly gas could be lurking in your home without you knowing.
"Just like carbon monoxide, radon is odorless, colorless, you can't smell it or taste it, it's in your homes and can make you very very sick if you don't do something about it quickly."
Radon is one of the leading causes of lung cancer in the u-s.... so Colleen Connolly of the Department of Environmental Protection advises home owners to take the necessary steps to keep it out of your house... And your lungs.
"You gotta go around to cracks and crevices in your basement because that's where the radon comes up through the ground, the cracks in the rocks, and through the openings in your house."
She says homes are at the highest risk right now... during the winter months.
"Especially in the winter months radon is known to get trapped in the homes because it gets trapped in the ground and really has no place else to go."
Because it is so hard to detect... The DEP encourages you to put your house to the test.
"There are two types you can get. One is sort of the digital radon testing kit that can measure the level of radon in your home.
"The second form of radon testing is like a canister that collects the dust and the air in your homes and you send it out to be tested and that can tell you how high the levels of radon in your home are."
If the test comes back with high levels of radon then it's time to call in a radon mitigating company.
A few small steps to take that could save your life.
"The last thing we want is to see someone getting lung cancer just because they didn't do something that they could have done."
"Just like carbon monoxide, radon is odorless, colorless, you can't smell it or taste it, it's in your homes and can make you very very sick if you don't do something about it quickly."
Radon is one of the leading causes of lung cancer in the u-s.... so Colleen Connolly of the Department of Environmental Protection advises home owners to take the necessary steps to keep it out of your house... And your lungs.
"You gotta go around to cracks and crevices in your basement because that's where the radon comes up through the ground, the cracks in the rocks, and through the openings in your house."
She says homes are at the highest risk right now... during the winter months.
"Especially in the winter months radon is known to get trapped in the homes because it gets trapped in the ground and really has no place else to go."
Because it is so hard to detect... The DEP encourages you to put your house to the test.
"There are two types you can get. One is sort of the digital radon testing kit that can measure the level of radon in your home.
"The second form of radon testing is like a canister that collects the dust and the air in your homes and you send it out to be tested and that can tell you how high the levels of radon in your home are."
If the test comes back with high levels of radon then it's time to call in a radon mitigating company.
A few small steps to take that could save your life.
"The last thing we want is to see someone getting lung cancer just because they didn't do something that they could have done."
