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Should You Test for Radon?
Testing is the only way to know if you and your family are at risk from radon. The EPA and the Surgeon General recommend testing all homes below the third floor for radon. The EPA also recommends testing in schools.
Testing is inexpensive and easy—it should only take a few minutes of your time. Millions of Americans have already tested their homes for radon.
How Often Should You Test?
The EPA also recommends homeowners test for radon every two years due to changes that occur to the structure of a home or the surrounding soil.
The EPA identifies the following major ways that radon can enter a home: cracks in solid floors, construction joints, cracks in walls, gaps in suspended floors, gaps around service pipes, cavities inside walls, and the water supply. Also, if renovations, changes in ventilation, earthquakes, settling of the ground beneath the building, or even just time have effected or disturbed any of these items, radon could essentially be finding new ways to enter your home or business, and you should retest just to be sure.
If a short term radon test was performed in the spring, one should consider doing another test during a different heating/cooling season, like fall or winter. And then test every couple of years.
Buying or Selling a Home?
If your home or the one you’re buying is in a high radon zone which means it’s highly likely to have readings within the home of 4.0 pCi/L or greater, then radon testing is highly recommended. A preliminary test conducted by a home seller can help expedite the transaction with a potential buyer and alleviate the concern for needing to install a mitigation system after purchasing a home.
The National Radon Action Plan – A Strategy for Saving Lives
The National Radon Action Plan outlines the framework for reducing radon risk in 5 million homes and saving 3,200 lives annually by 2020.
Led by the American Lung Association, the national radon workgroup agreed on a framework for action aimed at incorporating radon testing, radon mitigation and radon-resistant construction into systems that govern purchasing, financing, constructing and renovating homes and other buildings.
The EPA’s Guides for Radon
The EPA has provided multiple guides to educate home and business owners about radon.
EPA Home Buyers & Sellers Guide