They have radon test kits,is this world wide? Does anyone have any
reliable information about this radiation.Why we don't take it more serious.
For a few years,there was a lot of news about it. It was supposed
to deadly.Maybe some of the young guys would like to know more
about it. Loosewire

 

It's not good, but I suspect the media has hyped it beyond the danger.

Radiation is cumulative, that is, it is the total dose over a lifetime that adds up. Go over that dose, and you get sick, possibly die. So why accumulate any doses if you can help it?

Radon is the by product of the radioactive decay of granite, which is a fair percentage of the earths crust. If you have an underground room, such as a cellar, it can accumulate.

 

Unless you live in the stable craton with lots of limestone underneath. Much different from Denver.

 

With all the radiation I've been exposed to, I should be growing an auxiliary cranium or something...but I'm still perfectly normal. Just ASK me.

Radon has been around since the beginning of time...it's a NATURAL product. It's ALWAYS been here. Why they all of a sudden started worrying about it 20 years ago is beyond me. I could put an oxygen detector in your house and confirm that yes indeed, you have oxygen. Oxygen is an extremely dangerous substance. I don't see people trying to ban oxygen.

Yes, radon is a product of radioactive decay. But you have to ask yourself....decay from WHAT? Decay from things that were a lot MORE radioactive. Which means that the background radiation was FAR GREATER hundreds, or thousands of years ago!

See what's wrong with this radon picture?

But feel free to worry...it's a free country.

eric

 

I wonder what the actual cancer rates are for all the workers who applied asbestos insulation (and mechanics who worked on asbestos brakes) all their lives (adjusted for smoking, of course).

And are we any more intelligent having eliminated lead from everything (but not mercury, an essential component of CFL lamps{snicker})?

In the 1950's, there was a proposal to make a national flatware set with reactor waste mixed in. It would get rid of the stuff and evenly expose all of us to the radiation - very democratic.

 

Molten Lava is a naturally occuring substance that has been around since the beginning of the earth itself.

But that doesn't make it good for you.

So lets talk some Radon facts.

Radon is not a type of radiation. It is a gas, about 8 times more dense than air. In fact it is an inert element.

It is radioactive giving off the most harmful type of radiation to humans - alpha radiation, - with a half life of about 2.5 years. This is significant because the products of the radioactive decay have much longer half lives and are solids.

Because it is a naturally occuring gas in certain geological strata, it does not combine with other substances and is not for instance removed by groundwater or collected as a salt. Instead it percolates through pores and fissures and collects in low cavities such as basements, where it remains, being heavy.

Being a gas it mixes with the air and can be breathed in. Since the decay products are solid they are not (all) breathed out again so there is a gradual buildup of radioactive solid in the lungs.

Radon producing strata are particularly abundant in the South West of the United Kingdom and New York City.

It is estimated that Radon is responsible for about half the total annual dose of radiation received by the average UK citizen (official gov statistics). grants are available in the UK to test buildings for radon and adapt them if required. Around 100,00 homes are affected.

An extract from the official breakdown of sources of radiation is revealing.

Natural sources Annual dose

Radon........2.2 milliSievert
Other.........0.9 mSv

Artificial Sources

Medical........0.3mSv
Residual
Chernobyl,
Bomb tests etc..0.01mSv
Proximity to
Nuclear power plants...0.001
Work machinery..........0.005
Misc,
Smokedetectors
Luminous clocks
etc...........................0.01

Total Natual...............2.175
Total artificial.............0.326

Grand total.................2.501

Around 2,500 deaths due to radon induced lung cancer are recorded every year in the UK.

 

Around 2,500 deaths due to radon induced lung cancer are recorded every year in the UK.

The Telegraph article cites 1,100 per year. IIRC the 2,500 per year was for Europe.

Still, nasty stuff. 6 out of 7 lung cancer cases in the UK are being blamed on low-level long-term radon exposure.