what is radon classified as

Full Answer

What is radon and why is it dangerous?

Radon: What Is It and Why Is It Dangerous? Radon is a naturally occurring, radioactive, odorless, colorless, tasteless gas. It dramatically increases the risk of cancer in those who inhale air contaminated with it for long periods of time.

Is RADON a real problem?

The report confirms that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. and that it is a serious public health problem. The study fully supports EPA estimates that radon causes about 15,000 lung cancer deaths per year. The ISBN number for the book is 0-309-056454-4; National Academy Press, 516 pages, 1999.

Is radon really that dangerous?

Radon is a dangerous gas. It is odorless and colorless, which makes it even more dangerous. After all, there is a chance that radon is a problem in your home without you even knowing it. Radon is actually in the atmosphere, although only in trace amounts. Because it disperses quickly outside, it’s not typically dangerous.

What is radon and what does it do to humans?

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas which may be found in high concentrations in indoor environments, such as homes and workplaces. Radon is one of the leading causes of lung cancer. Radon is estimated to cause between 3% to 14% of all lung cancers in a country, depending on the national average radon level and smoking prevalence.

Is radon a nonmetal?

The chemical element radon is classed as a noble gas and a nonmetal. It was discovered in 1900 by Fredrich E. Dorn.

What property is radon?

Radon is colorless at standard temperature and pressure and it is the most dense gas known. At temperature below it's freezing point is has a brilliant yellow phosphorescence. It is chemically unreactive, it is highly radioactive and has a short half life.

Is radon a hazardous substance?

Short Answer: Naturally occurring radon is a CERCLA hazardous substance.

Is radon highly radioactive?

Radon is a chemical element with the symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas....RadonAppearancecolorless gasMass number[222]Radon in the periodic table38 more rows

Is it OK to live in a house with radon?

Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking. If you smoke and live in a home with high radon levels, you increase your risk of developing lung cancer. Having your home tested is the only effective way to determine whether you and your family are at risk of high radon exposure.

Where is radon most commonly found?

Radon is present outdoors and is normally found at very low levels in outdoor air and in surface water, such as rivers and lakes. It can be found at higher levels in the air in houses and other buildings, as well as in water from underground sources, such as private well water.

How long do you have to be exposed to radon for it to be harmful?

There are no immediate signs or symptoms from breathing in background radon. Repeated exposure over time — around 20 years — can lead to cancer development, especially if you are also a smoker.

How serious is radon in a home?

Radon is a radioactive gas emitted naturally from the ground. However, when radon gets trapped indoors—after entering a home through joints in walls, basement floors, foundations and other openings—it may concentrate at dangerous levels. And exposure to high levels of radon can cause lung cancer.

How do I make my house safe from radon?

An active radon sump, fitted with a fan, is the most effective way to reduce indoor radon levels. Sumps work best under solid floors and under suspended floors if the ground is covered with concrete or a membrane. Occasionally, passive sumps without a fan may reduce radon levels.

What creates the greatest radon threat?

For most people, the greatest exposure to radon occurs in the home where people spend much of their time, though indoor workplaces may also be a source of exposure.

What type of soil has the most radon?

Granitic type soils present higher levels of radon gas. Non-granitic soils have traditionally been considered to have very low radon levels.

Who is most exposed to radon?

The risk of lung cancer from radon exposure is estimated at between 10 to 20 times greater for persons who smoke cigarettes as compared with those who have never smoked. Theory holds that everyone is at risk from radon exposure, and this health risk increases linearly with dose.

What does radon come from?

Radon comes naturally from uranium through a long series of radioactive transformations, meaning it undergoes radium decay before it is transformed into a chemically reactive atom. Radon enters basements as the air tends to be at lower pressure than the soil gases under the slab.

Is radon highly reactive?

Radon is a noble gas and is generally chemically non-reactive.

What is radon and why is it a problem?

Radon is a naturally-occurring radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer. Radon gas is inert, colorless and odorless. Radon is naturally in the atmosphere in trace amounts. Outdoors, radon disperses rapidly and, generally, is not a health issue.

How is radon produced?

Radon is constantly being generated by the radium in rocks, soil, water and materials derived from rocks and soils, such as certain building materials. Radium is a decay product of uranium which is naturally occurring in the soils and rocks of the earth's crust.

Why is radon radioactive?

Radon itself is radioactive because it also decays to form the element polonium. Polonium is also radioactive - it is this element, which is produced by radon in the air and in people's lungs, that can hurt lung tissue and cause lung cancer. Radon is ubiquitous (usually in small amounts) in rock and soil and can be carried in water, air, ...

Where is radon found in the ground?

Radon in Blue Ridge Ground Water Among Highest In Nation. Radon concentrations in ground water from homeowners’ wells in the Blue Ridge area of the New River watershed, in parts of North Carolina and Virginia, were among the highest measured in the nation in a new report from the U.S. Geological Survey.

How many wells were radon tested?

Ground-water samples collected from 267 wells were analyzed for radon as part of a water-quality reconnaissance of subunits of the Lower Susquehanna and Potomac River Basins conducted by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program. Radon is a product of the radioactive decay of...

Where is radon found in drinking water?

Tests of 75 private drinking water wells in Lycoming County, in north-central Pennsylvania, found water from most of the sampled wells contained concentrations of radon that exceeded a proposed, nonbinding health standard for drinking water.

Is radionuclide water safe in Pennsylvania?

Naturally occurring radionuclides in the ground water of southeastern Pennsylvania may pose a health hazard to some residents, especially those drinking water from wells drilled in the Chickies Quartzite. Water from 46 percent of wells sampled in the Chickies Quartzite and 7 percent of wells sampled in other geologic formations exceeded the U.S....

Is radon found in groundwater?

As of the late 1990s, USGS research on radon has mostly been limited to its presence in groundwater. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the best starting point for information about air quality and radon in buildings.

What is the middle spectrum of radon?

Numbers at the side of the spectrum are wavelengths. The middle spectrum is of Radium emanation (radon), while the outer two are of helium (added to calibrate the wavelengths).

What is the temperature of radon?

2 ). It decomposes back to its elements at a temperature of above 523 K (250 °C; 482 °F), and is reduced by water to radon gas and hydrogen fluoride: it may also be reduced back to its elements by hydrogen gas.

How is radon produced?

Radon is produced by the radioactive decay of radium-226, which is found in uranium ores, phosphate rock, shales, igneous and metamorphic rocks such as granite, gneiss, and schist, and to a lesser degree, in common rocks such as limestone. Every square mile of surface soil, to a depth of 6 inches (2.6 km 2 to a depth of 15 cm), contains approximately 1 gram of radium, which releases radon in small amounts to the atmosphere. On a global scale, it is estimated that 2.4 billion curies (90 EBq) of radon are released from soil annually.

Why is radon used in hydrology?

Because of radon's rapid loss to air and comparatively rapid decay, radon is used in hydrologic research that studies the interaction between groundwater and streams. Any significant concentration of radon in a stream is a good indicator that there are local inputs of groundwater.

How much radon is in the atmosphere?

The average concentration of radon in the atmosphere is about 6 × 10 −18 molar percent, or about 150 atoms in each milliliter of air. The radon activity of the entire Earth's atmosphere originates from only a few tens of grams of radon, consistently replaced by decay of larger amounts of radium, thorium, and uranium.

What is the density of radon?

At standard temperature and pressure, radon forms a monatomic gas with a density of 9.73 kg/m 3, about 8 times the density of the Earth's atmosphere at sea level, 1.217 kg/m 3. Radon is one of the densest gases at room temperature and is the densest of the noble gases.

Why is radon important in soil?

This fact has been put to use by some atmospheric scientists. Because of radon's rapid loss to air and comparatively rapid decay, radon is used in hydrologic research that studies the interaction between groundwater and streams. Any significant concentration of radon in a stream is a good indicator that there are local inputs of groundwater.

What is the radon level in a house?

The (EPA) has established 4 pCi/L as the standard for indoor air. A house that tests out at levels higher than 4 pCi/L should undergo radon mitigation to reduce radon levels.

Is radon a carcinogen?

Radon is a hazardous, naturally occurring gas that results from the decay of trace amounts of uranium found in the earth's crust. Odorless and in visible, radon has been classified (by the Environmental Protection Agency) as a carcinogen since 1988, and is the leading cause of cancer among nonsmokers in of the U.S. Because radon is an unstable gas, it breaks down and dissipates quickly in the open air. Dangerous levels of radon can accumulate inside a house, however. The soil under and around the house is by far the largest source of radon gas, but it is also present in well water, building materials, public water supplies and outdoor air (see pie chart).

What is a radon gas?

Radon is an odorless and invisible radioactive gas released when some naturally occurring radioactive materials break down in rocks, soil and water and can build up to dangerous levels inside homes or buildings.

How to reduce radon levels in home?

recommends additional actions you can take to reduce high radon levels in your home and protect yourself from an increased risk of lung cancer. Stop smoking and discourage smoking in your home. Smoking significantly increases the risk of lung cancer from radon. Increase air flow in your house by opening windows and using fans ...

Can radon build up in a house?

Any home can have a radon problem. Whether your home is drafty or well-sealed, radon can still build up and get trapped inside. Radon can enter the home through several ways. Cracks in solid floors and walls. Construction joints. Gaps in suspended floors. Gaps around service pipes. Cavities inside walls.

Can you get lung cancer from radon?

Your chances of getting lung cancer from radon depend mostly on: How much radon is in your home–the location where you spend most of your time (for example, the main living and sleeping areas). The amount of time you spend in your home. Whether you are a smoker or have ever smoked.

Is radon resistant construction cheaper?

Ask about radon-resistant construction techniques. external icon. if you are buying a new home. It is almost always cheaper and easier to build these features into new homes than to add them later. Radon can also be a problem in schools and workplaces.

Can radon cause cancer?

Over time, these radioactive particles increase the risk of lung cancer. It may take years before health problems appear. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking.

When was radon found?

One of the first clues that indoor radon levels could be dangerous was discovered in 1985, when a worker at a nuclear power plant tested positive for a massive degree of radioactive contamination. This was confusing given that the plant was under construction and held no radioactive material at the time. The source was eventually traced back to the man’s home, where radon had been seeping into the basement and accumulating.

How to detect radon?

Like security technicians at a nuclear power plant, detecting radiation is the key to detecting radon. When a radon atom decays, it fires off a series of high-energy particles in rapid succession over a period of days before eventually settling as an atom of lead. These particles can alter DNA in harmful ways, and can also affect the sensitive electronic components inside radiation detectors. These detectors technically pick up any radioactive aerosol, but with the exception of the rare nuclear reactor accident, radon is the only source of airborne radiation.

How is radon dangerous?

The danger is due to radon’s radioactivity, which occurs as it slowly decays into other elements. As a result, radon concentrations are typically measured not by their proportion of the air in parts per million, but rather in Becquerels per cubic meter of air (Bq/m3), or fractions of a Curie per liter of air (picocuries or pCi/l), which are units of radioactivity (1 pCi/l = 37 Bq/m3). Background levels of radon in open air range from barely detectable over the open ocean to as high as 100 Bq/m3 or 2.5 pCi/l in geologically active regions. These levels are associated with a slightly higher risk of cancer, so it is important to detect and mitigate radon whenever possible.

How much does a radon detector cost?

Radon detectors can be relatively inexpensive to purchase, typically costing between $100 and $200. However, you should keep in mind that even with mitigation steps in place, there is always some background amount of radiation that the device may detect.

Can you remove radon from a building?

Unfortunately, radon is much harder to remove than it is to detect. Activated carbon adsorbs radon to some degree, but experts do not recommend using air filtration to remove radon. Instead, organizations like the EPA and the WHO advise you to actively pump air from beneath the ground, so any radon gas is drawn out and vented above the building.

Is radon a noble gas?

The earth is full of radon, which is considered a noble gas that occurs as a byproduct of decaying radium, a trace element that has been found on the earth since its formation. Radium typically occurs as a rocky ore, but eventually decays into radon, which rarely makes compounds by binding with other elements and tends to exist instead as individual gas molecules. Radon is much denser than air and can accumulate in lower areas like basements or mines, but trace amounts are always present in the atmosphere.

Is radon bad for you?

Though it may occur naturally, radon is dangerous. Prolonged exposure can damage your DNA, making it the second leading cause of lung cancer after tobacco — about 3,000 people die each year from radon exposure alone in the US. Even worse, for Americans who are regularly exposed to both tobacco smoke and radon, the risk of dying from cancer increases by as much as seven times.

Overview

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Characteristics

History and etymology

Applications

Health risks

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