Radon Testing Portland, OregonRadon is colorless, odorless, tasteless and… yup, you guessed it, radioactive. Chances are you’ve heard about radon and been warned that it can be trapped inside your home. People often ask, where does radon come from? Its a naturally occurring gas that is produced as a decay product of radium. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) warns that many areas of the country are exposed to high levels of radon, including many towns and cities within the Portland, Oregon metro area. Radon is one of the leading causes of lung cancer second only to cigarette smoking. As radon is produced it seeps up through the soil and escapes into the atmosphere where it dissipates and becomes harmless over time. The problem is when it gets trapped inside your home.

There are many products on the market that are capable of cleaning and keeping your house clean from dangerous levels of radon gas. Likewise there are also services, such as the radon inspection service provided by PropertyExam, that can identify the levels of radon in your home to find out if you’re at risk or not.

But that’s not what you came here for is it? You want to know some of the potential health effects on the human body caused by radon gas. The biggest and most well documented health effect is cancer. In particular lung cancer. This risk is even higher in minors and children as less radiation is needed to harm their small, developing bodies. No further studies have been conducted to identify if radon is capable of causing other forms of cancer however, due to the nature of the gas, it is believed that its effects are limited to respiratory cancers such as lung, throat and mouth. These risks are exacerbated by tobacco use so if you find that your home has high levels of radon, you may want to quit smoking in addition to having your home fixed with a filtration system.

DIY radon test kits are available online and PropertyExam also provides these for our customers. If you think you may have radon in your home due to a news story or just because you want to be cautious, don’t hesitate to call me or purchase a test kit over the internet.