It’s on television. It’s in the newspapers. It’s on billboards. Radon.
Portland has a radon issue, and it is not going away. The soil in the Willamette Valley contains granite, brought down the Columbia River from Montana over 10,000 years ago. This granite contains uranium, which breaks down naturally and produces radon gas. Invisible and odorless, radon is drawn upward into our homes by the relatively lower pressure found in the structure above, and the only way to know you have an issue is to test your home, using an inexpensive kit purchased at your local hardware store.
So why all the fuss? Almost 40 years ago, medical research connected long-term exposure to high levels of radon with lung cancer. An estimated 22,000 fatalities are attributed annually to radon in the United States. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking, and the leading cause of lung cancer for non-smokers.
Testing is simple, and can be done for under $30. Based upon the results, a homeowner can decide whether to seek out a certified mitigation firm. Mitigation involves a system to counteract the house’s upward influence on radon. A depressurization system will “hold” the gas beneath the house, draw it to a collection point, then vent it to the exterior of the house and above the roofline. For most single family homes, mitigation will cost between $1,500 and $2,000.
Not all homes will test high; any given house can test low, even when your neighbor tested their home and found it to be moderate or high. To know for certain, both EPA and the Surgeon General’s Office recommend every home in America should be tested for radon, regardless of location. Test your home, protect your family, safeguard your health.