ROANOKE, Va.—
It is National Radon Awareness Week.Radon is a cancer-causing radioactive gas that comes from the natural decay of Uranium found in our area.
"It's in every home, every building in the Southwest Virginia area," said George Fardell, owner of Radon Safe Inc. in Roanoke.
That means every house should be tested for radon.
According to the Environment Protection Agency, exposure to radon in the home is responsible for more than 20-thousand lung cancer deaths each year.
The good news is, radon is a health hazard with a simple solution. Home test kits are available at home improvement stores. "They tell us the level of radon over a short period of time. Usually 3 to 5 days," said Fardell.
The amount of radon in each home is different, regardless of neighborhood. "I've done houses where one was 2.3 pCi/l and the one next to it was 15.8 pCi/l," Fardell said. For a home to be safe, the radon level should be at a 2 pCi/l or below.
Levels above 4 pCi/l are a danger and professional mitigation is needed. The basic procedure consists of cut into basement flooring and using a pump or fan to draw the radon through a series of pipes, leading it outside the home.
Fardell says installation of a radon system can run $800-$1,200.
"It's not that bad. It's way cheaper than chemotherapy."
