Why Test Well Water and Your Home’s Air for Radon?

Six million American homeowners have homes that are contaminated with elevated levels of radiation, but it’s likely they don’t know it. The source of their radiation exposure is radon gas entering the home from either the soil around the home or well water. You don’t see this news in the headlines, but it’s estimated that the radon in our soil and water is responsible for 20,000 lung cancer deaths each year.

What is radon, anyway? And why is this gas accumulating in American homes? 

A Quick Look at the Source of Radon in Our Homes and Environment

Radon is a radioactive gas that has no color, taste or smell. It is continuously released from bedrock and moves through soil to make its way into our air. It forms from the breakdown of uranium, radium and thorium, all radioactive metals found in the earth’s crust. Radon is found almost everywhere and everyone is exposed to some radon. 

Once it reaches air, the radon released from uranium, radium or thorium disperses so that when people are outdoors, their levels of exposure will be very low. Indoors, radon gas can accumulate and that’s when it can create problems.

Radon can leak into a home through cracks or holes in the foundation. If it isn’t vented properly outdoors, levels can get high enough to create health risks. Radon also enters well water. When this water is heated to boiling or used for a shower, the radon in the water is released into the air, also adding to health risks. You can be exposed to radon by drinking water contaminated with radon, but there is minimal risk associated with ingested radon. 

Radon and the Risk of Developing Lung Cancer

Radon increases the risk of lung cancer because the tiny, invisible, radioactive particles get trapped in the lungs. As those particles break down, the energy they release damages the lungs. Over the course of a lifetime of exposure to elevated levels of radon, some people will develop cancer. Those who smoke have a significantly higher risk of lung cancer when they are also exposed to radon for a long time. Those who previously smoked but quit have a somewhat higher risk. 

Only smoking causes more cases of lung cancer than radon. The World Health Organization estimates that radon causes between 3% to 14% of all lung cancers in the world.

Determining Your Home’s Radon Level Is Easy

Testing your home’s air and water for radon is a simple task. It is only necessary to collect samples of air and water exactly per instructions from a professional lab that can perform these tests. Send these samples into the lab. Their report will tell you about your radon levels. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advises that homes with radon levels above 4 picocuries per liter of air (pCi/L) begin radon remediation. As noted above, as many as six million homes have levels in excess of 4 pCi/L. 

Public water systems are expected to meet the EPA recommendation of no more than 4,000 pCi/L but it is not a requirement. (This level of radon in water contributes about 0.4 pCi/L of radon to the air in your home.)

It is advisable to start by testing the air in your home. According to the EPA, “If you’ve tested the air in your home and found a radon problem and your water comes from a well, have your water tested.” From “A Citizen’s Guide to Radon” from the Environmental Protection Agency. It is advised that you test your home for radon at least every two years and your well every three years. 

What You Should Do If Your Radon Levels Are High in Air or Water

The technology exists to remove radon from both air and water. Radon in a home can be reduced with special venting to let gasses escape. Fortunately, a radon remediation system is often not very expensive. 

Activated carbon filters can remove radon from well water. There are also aeration devices that bubble air through the water before it enters the house. They then vent the gas out through an exhaust fan.

ETR Laboratories helps many home and well owners with fast, accurate radon tests. To start your own radon tests of water and air, choose from ETR Laboratories’ tests below.

Radon in Water

Radon in Air (single vial for one-story home)

Radon in Air (two vials for multi-story home)