I knew that the only way to know a home ' s radon level is by testing. I tested my home a number of years ago, and the level was 4 pCi / L. EPA recommends radon reduction, also called mitigation, for any home with a radon level above 4 pCi / L. However, I didn ' t entirely grasp what these radon levels meant in terms of health risks.
CDC ' s Radon Awareness Week brought to my attention that EPA recommends retesting your home after repairs or renovations. I decided to retest my home since I had done some other repair work to my home over the past few years. I was surprised that my radon levels were now above 10 pCi / L in my basement.
A statistic that stood out to me in materials provided by a CDC partner, the American Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists, Inc., was that 10 pCi / L equals about 500 chest x-rays per year or about 20 cigarettes per day( one full pack)! I knew I needed to find a mitigation company and fix this problem.
First, I found information on my state radon program website about qualified contractors in my area, and then contacted two of them for estimates. The contractor I chose was well-qualified and had training and certification from the National Radon Proficiency Program, as recommended by EPA and the state radon program. The contractor evaluated my home and proposed a solution appropriate for my home ' s structure and explained the mitigation process and cost.
The system draws radon gas beneath the basement floor up through the house and vents it outside above the house.