Radon - what do I do now?

[Matt Meyer]

Radon probably poses almost no risk to you (assuming you are over 30) as it increases your risk of cancer over long term exposure.

The exposure to your children is more of a concern.

Radon is not a "new" risk. It has always been there. It tends to accumulate in basements and the like that have poor circulation anyway. The risk from radon has not increased.

They only fairly recently discovered it was a problem. Not by tracing unexplained lung cancer or anything scary. They found out about higher than expected radon because some guy who worked at a nuclear plant kept setting off radiaton monitors at work. (I bet you can guess what industry I work in now).

The second thing that brings radons concern up higher than it used to be is they have changed the model they use to determine the "damage" it potentially does to the body. So some PhDs are calculating that the chance of cancer from exposure is higher than they calculated before. Nothing driving this is based on epidemeology.

Radon is found in areas of granite and quartz because uranium (which is kinda where radon gas comes from) is also found with granite and quartz. The radon gas can not penetrate the rock but concentrates and travels up fissures in the rock and into your basement.

Radon is not a problem where I live so I am not familiar with methods to abate it.

[Tobra]

get a whole house fan and use it often

[Eric Coffey]

As mentioned, I believe the issue is that the radon accumulates under the slab, so any foundation cracks will allow it to seap up through. Not sure, but you may be able to run vent tubes under the slab that vent out to the side of the house (no drilling into the slab itself required).