What is Radon? Radon is a radioactive gas formed by the breakdown of radioactive metals in rocks. It’s a naturally occurring gas, colorless and odorless, that comes from the earth. People are exposed to it everyday. Outside, radon disperses in the air, but inside, in your home, office, or other space, it can accumulate, and breathed-in overtime, can cause lung cancer.

When buying a home, most buyers elect to do a radon test offered by a home inspector. The test is worth the cost to assess potential environmental hazards. Most of the time, the test results are ‘positive’ with radon emissions within EPA guidelines. Once in a while though, the test results are negative with levels of radon well above what the EPA considers safe. What do you do then? Orange County, NY, in particular has varying levels of radon, and my client buying a house there, received the negative test results with trepidation.

“This house isn’t worth my health,” she said, ready to rescind her offer and move on. The inspector, however, advised her on steps she could take to lower the emissions level and live there safely. The basement, where the test had been done, needed better ventilation, and installing a radon mitigation device (about $1500) would suffice. In addition, he suggested opening the windows periodically. The goal is to have the radon disperse harmlessly into the atmosphere outside. My client did some research, got a second opinion, then decided that the radon levels were not a deal breaker. We negotiated a price-reduction for the mitigation device, and moved forward with the purchase.

Even if you’re not in the market for a new place, you may want to do a radon test in your home, office, or wherever you spend a lot of time, to see if the air you’re breathing is safe. The EPA recommends it. Following are some resources to consider:

https://www.epa.gov/radiation/what-radon-gas-it-dangerous

https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/features/protect-home-radon/index.html