They are members of distinct families of radioactive elements, but each is formed as a result of alpha emission and each decays by that process. They form in the interstices of soil or porous rocks containing their respective parent atoms in the forms of salts or minerals.

Radon is more commonly found where uranium is relatively abundant in bedrock at the surface, often in granite, shale, and limestone. The EPA produced a map of the US showing geographic variation in radon concentrations, divided into three levels of risk: low, medium, and high (Figure 10.21).

Radon decays into radioactive polonium and alpha particles. This emitted radiation made radon useful in cancer therapy. Radon was used in some hospitals to treat tumours by sealing the gas in minute tubes, and implanting these into the tumour, treating the disease in situ.

It sometimes gets concentrated in homes built on soil with natural uranium deposits. It can enter buildings through cracks in floors or walls, construction joints, or gaps in foundations around pipes, wires or pumps. Radon levels are usually highest in the basement or crawl space.

If we breath in high levels of radon over long periods of time this exposure can lead to damage to the sensitive cells of our lungs which increases the risk of lung cancer. Radon causes about 1,000 lung cancer deaths in the UK every year.

If a person has been exposed to radon, 75% of the radon progeny in the lungs will become harmless lead particles after 44 years. When a particle damages a cell to make it cancerous, the onset of lung cancer takes at least five years, but often takes 15 to 25 years and even longer.

Radon is a colourless, odourless radioactive gas. It is formed by the radioactive decay of the small amounts of uranium that occur naturally in all rocks and soils.

In some cases, radon levels can be lowered by ventilating the crawlspace passively (without the use of a fan) or actively (with the use of a fan). Crawlspace ventilation may lower indoor radon levels both by reducing the home’s suction on the soil and by diluting the radon beneath the house.

Several years after finishing the basement, you might find that the radon level has increased above the EPA’s action limit (4 pCi/L) and must be reduced to make the house marketable. But once the basement has been finished, you have to get a fan-based radon mitigation system ($1,200 on average).

Radon is a noble gas that can’t be filtered, but air filtration can reduce health risks associated with radon. Here’s how it works: The harmful radon decay particles will attach themselves to the Breathe EZ air cleaner, reducing your risk of lung cancer.

During the day, the sun beats down and heats up the house from the outside in, but at night, there is a rapid cooldown. This results in slightly higher radon levels during the day, rather than at night.

Opening windows improves air circulation and ventilation, helping move radon out of the house and mixing radon-free outside air with indoor air. Opening basement windows helps reduce negative air pressure, diluting radon with clean outdoor air.

Over time, you may also experience loss of appetite, weight loss, and fatigue. According to the American Cancer Society, smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer. Radon comes in second. About 10 percent of radon-related cancer deaths involve people who don’t smoke.

This data shows how low-dose radiation actually has a protective heath effect, similar to the immune response caused by vaccines. The radon scare was set off because of lung cancer in early uranium miners. EPA rules ignore science, biology, and observed low-level radiation health effects.

Radon Has No Smell In truth, radon doesn’t smell like anything at all. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas, which is what makes it all the more dangerous for you and your home. Only tests designed especially for radon can give you an accurate reading on the level of radon gas in your home.

Radon levels are measured in picocuries per liter, or pCi/L. Levels of 4 pCi/L or higher are considered hazardous. Radon levels less than 4 pCi/L still pose a risk and in many cases can be reduced, although it is difficult to reduce levels below 2 pCi/L.

Radon is a radioactive gas with no taste, smell or color.

Mental health experts generally agree that people dealing with the presence of high levels of radon in their homes are likely to have related psychological problems if they are prone to other forms of stress.

Treatment with radon inhalation produced antidepressant-like effects, i.e., enhanced monoamines, including Serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine levels in brain tissue, as well as depression-like behavior.

From the lungs to the brain But after being inhaled into the lungs, radon gas enters the bloodstream. Research has shown that radioactive byproducts of radon gas tend to accumulate in brain tissue, where they can do additional damage.

The decay products of radon (radon progeny) that are deposited in the lung have relatively short half-lives ranging from less than a millisecond (0.000164 seconds) to about 27 minutes; therefore, they emit radiation for only a short period of time, about three to four hours.

For example, a person living in a house with a radon level of 4.0 pCi/L or lower has an approximately 7 in 1000 chance of getting sick. On the other hand, a person living in a house with a radon level of 20 pCi/L or higher has a 36 in 1000 chance of contracting lung cancer.

Long-term exposure to radon can lead to lung cancer, the only cancer proven to be associated with inhaling radon. There has been a suggestion of increased risk of leukemia associated with radon exposure in adults and children; however, the evidence is not conclusive.

Safe radon levels The best radon level measurement would be zero. The average global outdoor radon level varies between 5-15 Bq/m3, equal to 0.135-0.405 pCi/L. For every 99.9 Bq/m3, or every 2.7 pCI/L increase in long term radon exposure, lung cancer risk rises 16%4.

If a potential buyer conducts a radon test and those levels come back high, the buyer has the right to walk away from the sale (nearly all do) and you’ll be obligated to disclose the radon to future buyers, reducing your appeal.

about 1.3 pCi/L

The cost of a mitigation system may vary according to the home’s design, size, foundation, construction materials and the local climate. Radon reduction systems average costs nationally are $1,200 with a range from $800 to $1500 common depending on house and market conditions.

Radon is a radioactive gas that forms naturally when uranium, thorium, or radium, which are radioactive metals break down in rocks, soil and groundwater. People can be exposed to radon primarily from breathing radon in air that comes through cracks and gaps in buildings and homes.

Most background radiation comes from natural sources, including the ground, the air, building materials and food. Radiation is also found in the cosmic rays from space. Some rocks contain radioactive substances that produce a radioactive gas called radon.

The major isotopes of concern for terrestrial radiation are uranium and the decay products of uranium, such as thorium, radium, and radon. In addition to the cosmic and terrestrial sources, all people also have radioactive potassium-40, carbon- 14, lead-210, and other isotopes inside their bodies from birth.

The Earth itself is a source of terrestrial radiation. Radioactive materials (including uranium, thorium, and radium) exist naturally in soil and rock. Essentially all air contains radon , which is responsible for most of the dose that Americans receive each year from natural background sources.

By far the largest source of natural radiation exposure comes from varying amounts of uranium and thorium in the soil around the world. The radiation exposure due to cosmic rays is very dependent on altitude, and slightly on latitude: people who travel by air, thereby, increase their exposure to radiation.

Radiation sources Radon, a naturally-occurring gas, emanates from rock and soil and is the main source of natural radiation. Every day, people inhale and ingest radionuclides from air, food and water.

Man-made sources of radiation pollution are mining and refining of plutonium and thorium, production and explosion and nuclear weapons, nuclear power plants and fuels and preparation of radioactive isotopes….Sources and Methods :

• Nuclear power plants.
• Nuclear weapon.
• Transportation.
• Disposal of nuclear waste.
• Uranium mining.

Unlike fossil fuel-fired power plants, nuclear reactors do not produce air pollution or carbon dioxide while operating. However, the processes for mining and refining uranium ore and making reactor fuel all require large amounts of energy.

The majority of background radiation occurs naturally from minerals and a small fraction comes from man-made elements. Naturally occurring radioactive minerals in the ground, soil, and water produce background radiation. The human body even contains some of these naturally-occurring radioactive minerals.

Gamma radiation and X-radiation are short-wavelength electromagnetic radiation. Alpha particles, beta particles, neutrons, and protons are particulate radiation. Alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays are the most commonly encountered forms of radioactive pollution.

Exposure to radiation does not immediately make a person radioactive. The only type of radiation that is capable of directly causing other material to become radioactive is neutron radiation, which is generally only found inside nuclear reactors or in a nuclear detonation.

Clothes in a closet or drawer away from radioactive material are safe to wear. If you do not have clean clothes, take off your outer layer of clothing, shake or brush off your clothes taking care to cover your nose and mouth, and put your clothes back on.

Solutions to Radioactive Pollution

1. Proper Method of Disposing of Radioactive Waste. Radioactive waste still has some level of radiation.
2. Proper Labeling.
3. Banning of Nuclear Tests.
4. Alternative Energy Sources.
5. Proper Storage.
6. Reusing.
7. Precautions at the Personal Level.

Gently washing with water and soap removes additional radiation particles from the skin. Decontamination prevents radioactive materials from spreading more. It also lowers the risk of internal contamination from inhalation, ingestion or open wounds.

That’s because radiation is carried on dust particles. “The air isn’t radioactive, but small dust particles are,” Toner explains. “You’re essentially washing off the dust.” By the way, the dusty clothes can often be decontaminated simply by washing them, but it depends on the amount of radiation detected.

The only factor that matters when it comes to x-ray shielding is density. This is why lead aprons and blankets are the most effective shielding material to fight off x-rays and gamma-ray. After all, lead has a very high number of protons in each atom (82 to be specific), which makes it a very dense metal shield.

How to reduce exposure to cell phone radiation

1. Use hands-free and text messages wherever possible.
2. Carry and keep your smartphone away from your body.
3. Avoid using your phone when it has a low signal.
4. Don’t sleep with your phone.
5. Be careful when streaming.
6. Be cautious of “shielding” products.

Three principles for radiation safety: time, distance, and…

• Time. Radiation exposure can be accumulated over the time of exposure.
• Distance. A greater distance from the radiation source can reduce radiation exposure.
• Shielding.

Onions absorb the Gamma radiations that cause harmful changes in DNA. The nuclear bombs were sandwiched between layers of onions to prevent radiation leak.

A group of Indian scientists has decried a Union government agency’s invocation of experiments by physicists at Gujarat’s Saurashtra University to claim cow dung can shield people from radiation. The experiments purportedly showed that cow-dung cakes partially blocked radiation from radioactive caesium.

The experiment was supposedly designed to ‘prove’ that cow dung chip blocks radiation. In October 2020, the Chairperson of the National Commission on Cows, the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (RKA), made headlines with bizarre claims about a cow dung chip that could supposedly block “harmful radiation” from mobile phones.

‘Positive research on cow products’ “The test concludes that cow dung can absorb upto 60 per cent of radiation.