Radon. How it gets into your home

Radon gas kills an estimated 21,000 Americans every year, Radon gas entering How it gets in your home making it the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the home from below ground Loose pipes, unsealed cracks and sump crocks (a basin in the United States. You are most likely to be exposed to it in Common ways to remove concrete basement oor that collects groundwater seepage) your own home. Here’s how radon gets into your home radon gas from home can be points of entry for radon as it seeps up through and how you can get rid of it. permeable rock and soil. Regardless of your home's base, any break in the seal between ground and foundation can allow radon to enter and escape into your living areas. Higher oors will see less radon as the particulates dissipate.

Advance Local graphic. Sources: U.S. Department of the Interior Reducing the risk U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Once radon levels are conrmed to be high, Minnesota Department of Health there are ways to remove it. Leaks that allow radon to enter are sealed and a radon mitigation system, left, is installed that vents the particulates safely outside.

Radon fan

Water pipes Faucet

Drain

Gaps in Cracks suspended oors

Well Cracks How geology determines radon risk pipe Radon pipe Highly permeable soil or rock types o er less of Construction a barrier to radon present below ground. Suction pit joints Generally, the harder packed the ground is, the lower the chance of having radon in your home. More factors that increase the probability Loose of above average radon levels. pipes Radon in the water supply ■ Thin soil and bedrock is close to the surface. Sump ■ Soil forms deep cracks during dry times. Where water is drawn from wells, radon can enter from the aquifer, ■ Soil is well-drained or dry most of the time. adding to indoor air radon levels ■ Uranium-rich rocks occur in the area. when the water is disturbed and ■ High levels of indoor radon have been the particulates released. reported in the county or neighborhood.

Likelihood of radon

Gravels and sand Slope or hill Glacial deposits Coarse soils high permeability some permeability low permeability Fractured rock or soil Light F volcanic rock Clay, mudstone and au Limestone Granite lt Dark shale basalt and pumice some sandstone are examples Bedrock

HIGH RISK LOW RISK

LIMESTONE: Sedimentary GRANITE: Granite has higher FRACTURES: Fractured rock SLOPES: Better drainage DEEP BEDROCK: Radon has a LOW PERMEABILITY: Radon rocks that contain phosphate, than average uranium content. or soil allows radon to move removes obstacles to radon. greater journey to the surface travels more easily through like limestone, have higher FAULTS AND CAVES: Radon more quickly with no barrier. LIGHT VOLCANIC ROCK: if coming from deep bedrock. air. Denser, less permeable than average uranium content travels more easily through DARK SHALE: Higher than Higher than average GLACIAL DEPOSITS: Denser soils and rocks o er less and are more permeable. gaps in the ground. average uranium content. uranium content. soils block radon better. space for radon to move.