The gold standard is to call in a certified home inspector or radon professional. However, owning a relatively low-cost modern electronic continuous radon detector is the next best thing. With such a device, seasonal variations can be seen. Radon enters a home from underlying soil through the differential pressure effects of indoor versus outdoor temperature. Thus, seasonal variation is expected. As an example of modern continuous electronic radon monitors, one would not go wrong choosing the EcoQube by Ecosense ( www.ecosense.io, San Jose, CA).
However, legacy passive techniques for the monitoring of radon levels are still in widespread use. These are: 1) the use of CR-39 plastic track detector chips, and 2) the use of activated carbon packets. Both are exposed for a period time (the user’s choice, but generally a few weeks) and sent away to a laboratory for analysis and report generation. Such methods, unless repeated, do not allow for learning of possibly crucial long-term seasonal variations. They also do not, as an EcoQube would, allow family members to quickly (and graphically) see the effects of periodically opening windows when the weather is nice, a good life-long habit to get into. Remember, radon levels are a good proxy for the accumulation of all manner of indoor air pollution. Any temporary uptick in level can always serve as a gentle reminder that outdoor fresh air activities benefit our children in many ways.
The virtue of the legacy radon measurement techniques is their low cost. These short-term techniques are essentially within reach of everyone, and they are able to tell you whether your home presently measures over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 4 pCi/L threshold for taking mitigation action. That is good news-- equity in basic, essential information is within reach. If your home tests high, it should be remembered that the hazard radon presents is not one of instantaneous exposure, it is exposure over a long period of time-- just like children getting a lot of sun one summer does immediately mean skin cancer. Thus, no need to panic, just resolve to begin a thorough investigation of your options.
Investing in the better information a continuous electronic radon monitor provides would be a good next step. However, if such discretionary spending is out of reach, perhaps community ownership models can be arranged? Individual initiative can work wonders. You can help yourself and others by arranging to circulate a shared device.
Part of the problem of radon is one of simple awareness. If you own an EcoQube or arrange to borrow one, you can share your home’s data with others by using its Wi-Fi capability. If your home has an issue, it is quite likely that your neighbors and cross-town friends in similar homes may have an issue as well.
References:
1. U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. U.S. Cancer Statistics Data Visualizations Tool, based on 2020 submission data (1999-2018): U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Cancer Institute; https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/dataviz, released in June 2021.
Figure 1. Rate of New Lung and Bronchus Cancers by Age (all ethnicities) [Ref. 1]
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So, what constitutes best practice in determining the radon safety of one’s home?
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