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Mrs. donahue victim of radium poisoning dies how to#

Mrs. donahue victim of radium poisoning dies how to#

Consumer's guide to radon reduction: How to fix your home.You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy. We link primary sources - including studies, scientific references, and statistics - within each article and also list them in the resources section at the bottom of our articles. Medical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and draws only from peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. Last medically reviewed on January 9, 2019 However, all homeowners can put in place adaptive measures if necessary. Simply making the home airtight does not limit radon levels until implementing other measures.Īlthough studies have demonstrated the link between radon and cancer, its implications for health at the levels that occur in the home are still up for debate, with smoking making conclusions difficult to reach. Positive pressurization: These systems constantly blow fresh filtered air into the home to clear out radon.A fan pulls air and radon up and away from the home. Radon sump system: A sump is an under-floor cavity into which a pipe is inserted.Improving ventilation: Also, avoid moving radon from lower floors to the rest of the home.Sub-slab depressurization, or soil suction: This consists of a vent pipe system and a fan that pulls radon from under the house, venting it to the outside.

If the radon readings are high, a number of methods can help manage the issue. They can then send the collected sample to a laboratory for evaluation. A person with the kit should leave it in the lowest habited room of the house for 2–7 days. There is a selection of radon testing kits available for purchase online. Radon test kits are widely available and generally cheap or even free. Some estimate that 1 in 15 homes in the U.S.

Some spring water and hot springs also contain radon. The high levels of radon in Iowa are the result of ancient glaciers that ground down granite rocks over time and deposited them in the form of soil. Iowa has the highest percentage of homes scoring above a safe radon level, with 71.6 percent of homes potentially at risk. This helpful resource from the EPA shows the areas of the U.S. Two adjacent homes and even two adjacent rooms can vary significantly in their levels of radon. Levels vary a great deal between locations and, although the half-life of radon is less than 4 days, it can build up in high concentrations, especially in areas of low elevation, such as basements or mine shafts. The gas is likely to build up in poorly ventilated, airtight buildings. It often makes its way in through splits in foundations, cracks in walls, gaps around pipes, cavities inside walls and the water supply. Radon tends to enter buildings at their lowest point. Man-made structures can also be responsible for radon poisoning. Natural rock is not the only source of radon. More common rocks, such as limestone, also emanate radon, also this is a less common occurrence and levels are lower than other sources.

igneous and metamorphic rocks, such as granite.

Share on Pinterest Radon can enter a building through cracks in the walls and foundations.Ī range of natural sources give off radon, including: About 2,900 of those deaths occur in people who have never smoked. Radon causes 21,000 lung cancer deaths per year in the U.S. According to the EPA, radon is the second most common cause of lung cancer, after smoking. Healthcare professionals now acknowledge that inhaling large quantities of radon causes lung cancer. Despite the eventual realization of the hazards, radon-induced lung cancer in miners remained a significant hazard until the 1970s. Doctors attributed lung cancer in miners in the Czech Republic, South Australia, and Southwestern U.S. In the 1940s and 1950s, companies who set up mines did not widely implement ventilation systems. Researchers only discovered its negative health implications at a later date. Other companies attempted to add radon to water, but the short half-life of radon meant that it had disappeared by the time the water reached people. People could pay small sums of money to spend time in a “radiotorium” and receive bombardments of radon. In the early 20th century, quack doctors touted radon as being beneficial to health.