PRESSS CONTACT
Evelien Jacobs Senior Communications Manager press @ airthings . com
What is radon ?
The rocks and soil beneath our homes contain traces of uranium . Over time , the uranium breaks down and forms other elements . This is called radioactive decay . Radon is one element in the decay chain of uranium . When radon gas decays , it emits radiation in the form of an alpha particle . This radioactive particle is invisible and made up of two protons and two neutrons . Seeing is believing , so using a cloud chamber like in the video below ; the decay and radiation can be made visible to the naked eye . The particles you see here are in fact present in the air you breathee .
Why should I care about radon ?
Radon is a potentially lethal gas . The World Health Organization ( WHO ) estimates around 14 % plus of all lung cancer deaths globally are radon-induced from this disease . Are you at risk of radon exposure ? While you
2 . This represents approximately 189,000 of the
1.4 million people that die annually can ' t be sure until you test , some risk assessment maps exist wheree you can take a birds-eye view of radon exposure in your region
. This is location dependent as obtaining this data requires sensors in the area . Airthings created radonmap . com which gathers anonymous live radon data from tens of thousands of their radon sensorss around the world and breaks it down by location . If there are
Airthings monitors in your area , you ’ ll be able to see if locations near you have high levels of radon .