Where is it coming from?

Do you mean in general, or where is it entering the house? It's from rocks/soil and I assume it's permeating through the slab. I don't know if there are concentrated entry points. The test just tests the air.

Oh wow. I haven't heard of this. I'm going to look into it now. I hope you find an answer. We're being bombarded by so many things these days.

Radon usually comes from the ground under the house.

chi, do what you feel most comfortable with. Maybe get a second opinion/reading first. It seems like a small cost for peace of mind.

A neighbor of my MIL tested their house and came back with a reading of 13.9/pCi/L. They're having it mitigated asap.

Wow that's scary jewel. We had a mold inspector come for an unrelated matter, and he mentioned radon testing. He said he tested a home in our city and it was about 40 pCi/L! Ours is higher than I would like but I'm glad it's not too far above the action limit. Hopefully your MIL tested their house too. I heard it can vary greatly even house to house.

I agree, Hareball. There's something new every day, it seems. But unlike most of the stuff, radon has a clear and established link to increased risk of lung cancer.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I'm putting out the second test today and I should have results in 2 weeks or so. In the meantime I'll start researching mitigation companies.

Radon testing has been done in our part of the country for a long time because of the general makeup of the rocks and soil in our geographic area. I tested our home a couple of years after we built and it was fine. Probably should do it again just for my own peace of mind.

I would have another test done or do it yourself in another part of your house. Slabs might be tricky, but I’m not sure about that. Concrete is porous to some degree. Maybe you can read up on what type of mitigation can be done on a slab. Your reading sounds minor to me, but then your peace of mind is important. Good luck!

My mother did a short term radon test which came back high. The place that analyzed it for her told her that weather activity could have an impact on the test? and that she should do a long term test. She did the long term and it came back fine.

If your tests do come back positive again, it sounds like money well spent for the peace of mind of knowing that you are not being exposed.

As I understand it, and I haven't done a lot of research yet, is that they put pipes and fans under the slab so that it forces the radon up to the roof where it dissipates instead of rising up through the home.

Many years ago a farm down the road from my in laws came up for sale. My now late FIL said he wouldn't buy that because everyone that lived in the house dies of cancer. I remember thinking that was just silly. I now think he was right. I know the next lady did die from cancer but she also was a heavy smoker. We probably should have the house we live in tested.

My son has some kind of vent and fan system in his basement for radon mitigation. Biggish silver ducting running around.

We never used the basement in our old house much. We had to test for radon when we went to sell it, and the test came back high enough to need mitigation. I think it cost in the $1600 range, and was easy. Just a big pipe running up the side of the house, basically. I like your plan -- one more short-term test, then mitigate if at all necessary.

Lots of people have been exposed to much higher levels of radon than in your house, and for more years, and not everyone developed problems. So while it's good to take action now, I wouldn't worry about the time you've spent at just a few points above the EPA recommended radon level.

In our new house, we put pipes in before we poured the foundation in case we had a radon issue. We suspected we might as other houses have had radon issues in the area, and we did have to hammer some rock to make room for our foundation. It was a good thing as our radon levels were extremely high. We had the fan installed in the attic and now it's well below the maximum.

I don't think going or not going into a basement for short periods is really the issue. Radon is a gas that escapes from the ground that finds its way into the under-house air and then into the house from below, using the normal cracks and other passages that houses have. The older the house, the easier the air flow. Using an exhaust fan, or a fireplace or wood stove with no separate outside air source and with windows closed can also serve to suck under-house air (that would include radon gas) into a home. The mitigation, as I understand it, involves proactive ventilation of the under-house space to remove the air there.

When it comes into the home, it's through the basement floor and my understanding is that it does so slowly, over the long term, and permeates the whole house.

I'm pretty sure that I've heard that the risk is low over the short term, but substantial over the long-term ... but many of us do live in the same house for many years.

ole joyful

I went to a funeral for the mother of a friend of mine a couple of months ago. She died of lung cancer. She had never smoked and her husband didn't either. I talked to my friend and he said that most of the houses in the town they live in measure too high for radon. He told me that his sisters house in Kansas was the same way. He told me 93 percent of women that get lung cancer have never smoked.

My daughter is finishing her basement and radon remediation is mandatory, regardless of reading. The cost is $850.

ANY any amount of radon is too much. I would not consider a priority level 3 (lowest presence) as "safe", by any means. It just means that your area is less saturated with a radioactive, cancer causing particulate than mine, a priority level 1 area.

I wouldn't put much stock in the home testing radon kits. Our last house had a radon evacuation system in it. We used a home testing kit years before we sold and it came back high. The buyers had it professionally tested as part of the home inspection and it came back no radon detected.

I don't think it's possible to have no radon detected since it's in the air outside as well. Function, did your test come back high even with your system?

I have heard that the percentage of non-smoking lung cancers is going up. It wouldn't surprise me as I think we tend to spend a lot more time indoors these days.

Thanks for everyone's contribution!

Chi yes the system was in when it tested high. We had to put it in when we built the house. As far as a 0 reading, that is what our agent told us. Maybe they account for the normal amount of radon in the air.

To Chi:

No need to freak out. Your reading was 4.5 pCi/L and the action level set by the EPA is 4.0 picoCuries per Liter. First, consider that the US Governmental agencies do not know what the safe level is. They know that radiation from radio-nuclides isn't good for you, but how much is too much is unknown, so until further information is available, a conservative level was chosen as the action level. Its a bit above the background. Zero is a nice safe level but impractical.

(A pico is 10 to the -12 power, e.g., that's a decimal point and 11 zeros and then a 1, or 1/1000 000 000 000, a very small amount.)

At your level, you are not going to fall over dead in the next few days, but at this level, the EPA says its time to lower the amount. The effect accumulates over time. One problem with radon is that it is a gas and can be breathed into the lungs. Some sources say it is the 2nd leading cause of lung cancer.

Radon forms a single atom molecule as opposed to most other gases that have 2 or more atoms. Its molecular radius is tiny allowing it to penetrate a variety of substances. It is odorless and colorless. It is also the heaviest known gas. It can dissolve into water. It is derived from the decay of uranium.

Before this became a concern, people lived happily in the old brownstone buildings in New York City and then someone measured. They found these buildings had radiation considerably over the "safe" level. After probing and more measuring, it was concluded the the radiation was coming from contaminants in the brown sandstone.

Well, my second test came back today at 4.0 pCi/L. So a little lower but again at the action threshold. My husband wants to do a long term test but I want to mitigate it right now because lower levels are always better.