Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that may be present in homes, schools, and office buildings.  You cannot see it, smell it, nor taste it, but you can test for it.  And, if you have a radon problem, it can be fixed.  

Radon is the number one cause of lung cancer among non-smokers and is the second leading cause of lung cancer overall.  Radon is responsible for about 21,000 lung cancer deaths every year in the United States.  About 2,900 of these deaths occur among people who have never smoked.  For smokers the risk of lung cancer is significant due to the synergistic (multiplying) effects of radon and smoking.  For this population about 62 people in 1,000 will die of lung-cancer, compared to 7.3 people in a 1,000 for never smokers.  The World Health Organization (WHO) says radon causes up to 15% of lung cancers worldwide. 

Radon in our homes is the main source of exposure to ionizing radiation, and accounts for 50% of the public’s exposure to naturally-occurring sources of radiation in many countries."

How to Test Your Home

You can't see radon, but it's not hard to find out if you have a radon problem in your home.  All you need to do is test for radon.  The amount of radon in the air is measured in "picoCuries per liter of air," or "pCi/L."  Sometimes test results are expressed in Working Levels (WL) rather than picoCuries per liter (pCi/L) (4 pCi/L equals to 0.016 WL).  There are many kinds of low-cost "do-it-yourself" radon test kits or you can hire a qualified tester to do the testing for you.  For links and information, visit www.epa.gov/radon/radontest.html.