Local radon mitigation and abatement services have become more important than ever before, thanks to the presence of radon in so many homes all throughout the country. After all, there are many homes with radon in them, with the radon levels found in the confines of their home soaring past the action level that has been set by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency, for those who are not aware). As a matter of fact, up to one third of all homes in some parts of the country (such as those found on Native American reservations) will have such high radon levels. On a national scale, at least one home out of every 15 homes will be found to have such as well.
But why does this matter? Why are local radon mitigation and abatement companies more important than ever before? Well, we simply know more about radon and the damages that it can cause. As a matter of fact, we know now that regular radon exposure can actually lead to lung cancer. The data more than backs this up, as it shows that an increase of 100 Bq/m in radon will lead to a 16% jump in lung cancer risk. So it should come as no surprise that up to 20,000 lung cancer patients lose their lives as a result of radon exposure, all throughout the course of a single year. This means that radon exposure is such a prominent cause of lung cancer that only smoking causes more lung cancer cases, at least according to the research that has been conducted by the Surgeon General of the United States, the authority on such matters in many ways.
Fortunately, radon exposure does not automatically mean lung cancer. If you’re worried about radon in your home, calling local radon testing companies will be a good idea. After all, there are a number of different tests that these local radon mitigation and abatement companies and the like can run. For one thing, most homes will only need a short term test, which will measure radon in the home for about three months (a span of 90 days, to be just a bit more specific). Long term radon tests, which will measure radon in the home for longer periods of time, can also be installed. The type of test that is best suited to your home is something that can be decided by the local radon mitigation and abatement company that is hired and the type of residential radon testing services that it provides.
And if radon is discovered in your home, don’t panic. Fortunately, local radon mitigation and abatement companies can be quite successful indeed when it comes to lowering the overall level of radon in your home. As anyone working for such a local radon mitigation and abatement company can tell you, radon levels can actually be lowered by as much as a full 50% just through various passive methods of radon mitigation alone. And then when you add in a radon ventilation fan, you are likely to be able to further reduce the radon level in your home. In fact, simply by reducing levels of radon in homes throughout the country, associated lung cancer cases would likely drop by as much as a full 4%, with up to 5,000 lives saved on a yearly basis – which is certainly significant by just about any standards, to say the very least.
At the end of the day, the possibility of radon in your home – especially in your home at high levels – can be a very frightening one indeed. Fortunately, there are many steps that can be taken to mitigate this radon, as anyone working for a local radon mitigation and abatement company will likely be able to attest to. As a matter of fact, lowering the radon in your home is more than possible, and will also help to greatly lower your risk factors for certain illnesses as well, such as that of lung cancer, which is growing all the more prominent all throughout the United States for a variety of reasons, of which radon exposure is just one.