Radon A Silent Killer

Over the years as a Realtor in Evanston IL and Chicago land I have encountered Radon tests and

never have had levels high enough to cause a concern. Because of this I really did not give it much thought until recently. First a little background on Radon.
Radon is a chemical element with symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas, occurring naturally as a decay product of radium. This gas is the 2nd highest cause of lung cancer in America right behind tobacco use. I want to quote the EPA for a minute.
EPA Radon Studies
The EPA offers a look at what they believe to be the risks of radon at different concentrations for 1,000 people who smoked and were consistently exposed to a certain level of radon during their lifetimes.
Radon Risks for Smokers

• With exposure to 10 pCi/L, about 71 would get cancer, equal to 100 times the risk of dying in a home fire.
• With exposure to 4 pCi/L, about 29 would get cancer, equal to 100 times the risk of dying in a plane crash.

Radon Risks for Non-Smokers:

• With exposure to 8 pCi/L, about 3 would get cancer, equal to 10 times the risk of dying in a plane crash.
• With exposure to 4 pCi/L, about 2 would get cancer, equal to the risk of drowning.

When  people purchase homes it used to be an occasional event to see a Radon test ordered but what

got me thinking about it was that in the last two property listings I represented for sellers a test was performed during the inspection period. In both cases the levels were so low that no action was needed but I had conversations with the testers and learned some interesting information about this deadly gas that I want to pass on. More and more people are getting the Radon test when purchasing a home. Both testers were certified Radon testers and told me some interesting and scary information worth hearing.
One of the inspectors told me that occasionally he had found high levels of Radon in homes around Chicago land. The fellow mentioned that he has seen levels very high in one area and almost none in another just a few feet away and because of that an accurate test taking samples of multiple areas needs to be done to assure the home is safe.
The scary part was that I was told that they had been hired after a person got lung cancer and never smoked or was around smokers. When the tests were done high levels of Radon were found in an area in which the person who got this horrible cancer spent many hours of their life. It was not always basements too.
The story makes me feel that I want to suggest very strongly that Radon air sample tests be preformed when I have a client purchasing a home. I will insist on the testing and tell my buyers this disturbing story.
Original post from Active Rain