Learn About Radon

The intent of this page is not to scare you, but to provide factual information that you may find useful when making a decision whether to test for radon levels or to mitigate your home when high radon levels are confirmed. While elevated levels of radon do pose a risk, all homes can be fixed using proven radon mitigation techniques.

Radon is a Cancer-Causing, Radioactive Gas

The EPA warns that you cannot see, smell or taste radon. But it still may be a problem in your home. When you breathe air containing radon, you increase your risk of getting lung cancer. In fact, the US Surgeon General has warned that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States today. If you smoke and your home has high radon gas levels, your risk of lung cancer is especially high.

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Important information for homeowners from the American Association of Radon Scientists and Technicians (AARST) that highlights the health risks associated with exposure to elevated radon gas levels in your home.

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This video is from Rutgers University and intended to educate radon testers and mitigators on how to talk with homeowners about the dangers of radon. I am including it here because it is good information for every homeowner to know.

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This video is an older production by Allen County, PA, but it contains good consumer information that is still relevant.

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This YouTube video provides a general education on radioactivity. This video is not specific to Radon, but explains why some forms of radioactivity, like Radon's decay particles, are harmful to people.

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This video is a Tedx Talk from Canadian Scientist Aaron Goodarzi. It is a detailed look at research findings on the impact of radon gas. This piece is addressing a Canadian audience, but Northern Illinois is a Zone 1 Radon area just like much of Canada.

European Atlas of Natural RadiationNatural ionizing radiation is considered as the largest contributor to the collective effective dose received by the world population. The human population is continuously exposed to ionizing radiation from several natural sources that can be classified into two broad categories: high-energy cosmic rays incident on the Earth’s atmosphere and releasing secondary radiation (cosmic contribution); and radioactive nuclides generated during the formation of the Earth and still present in the Earth’s crust (terrestrial contribution). Terrestrial radioactivity is mostly produced by the uranium and thorium radioactive families together with potassium. In most circumstances, radon, a noble gas produced in the radioactive decay of uranium, is the most important contributor to the total dose.This Atlas aims to present the current state of knowledge of natural radioactivity, by giving general background information, and describing its various sources. This reference material is complemented by a collection of maps of Europe displaying the levels of natural radioactivity caused by different sources. It is a compilation of contributions and reviews received from more than 80 experts in their field: they come from universities, research centres, national and European authorities and international organizations.This Atlas provides reference material and makes harmonized datasets available to the scientific community and national competent authorities. In parallel, this Atlas may serve as a tool for the public to: • familiarize itself with natural radioactivity;• be informed about the levels of natural radioactivity caused by different sources;• have a more balanced view of the annual dose received by the world population, to which natural radioactivity is the largest contributor;• and make direct comparisons between doses from natural sources of ionizing radiation and those from man-made (artificial) ones, hence to better understand the latter.Additional information at: https://remon.jrc.ec.europa.eu/About/Atlas-of-Natural-Radiation

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This is a comprehensive, scientific publication from the European Commission's Joint Research Center for Radioactivity Environmental Monitoring. Since Radon is naturally occurring and is present worldwide, the European Commission is providing this research to the public to better educate everyone on the natural radiation present in the Earth's atmosphere (known as the Cosmic contribution) and the radioactive nuclides generated during the formation of the Earth (known as the Terrestrial contribution). This document is a compilation of contributions and reviews by more than 80 experts from universities, research centers, national and European authorities and international organizations.

While this document is quite long, much of it contains maps of Europe displaying levels of natural radioactivity caused by various sources. The main purpose for posting this document is to help familiarize you with natural radioactivity, which is all around us, and to provide you access to some of the research being done in the field.

For a US Map of Radon Zones, please visit www.epa.gov/radon.

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