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While radon problems may be more common in the upper piedmont and mountain counties of North Carolina, any home may have an elevated radon level. Anyone in the Morganton area can have high radon levels in their house. New and old homes, well-sealed and drafty homes, and homes with or without basements can have a problem.

In addition, indoor radon levels vary from one home to the next. Do not rely on radon test results taken in other homes in the neighborhood - even ones next door - to estimate the radon level in your home.

The only way to determine the radon level in YOUR home is to TEST for radon.

Vegter Builders can now test for radon in your home. If you are interested please call our office at 828-430-7468 so we can further assist you in making your home a safer place to live.

Here are a few great insights about Radon and Radon Testing in North Carolina

What exactly is Radon?
Sources of Radon in your Home     
Radon and Your Health     
Radon Reduction & Home Repair

What exactly is Radon?

Radon comes from the soil, rock, and water around us. Why do some houses have high levels of indoor radon while nearby houses do not? The reasons lie primarily in the geology of radon - the factors that govern the occurrence of uranium, the formation of radon, and the movement of radon, soil gas, and ground water.

The geology of the state of North Carolina suggests certain areas of the state in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Mountain regions could have elevated indoor radon levels. A State Geological Society survey map of North Carolina identifies areas that contain gneiss, schist and granite rocks underlying the soils. These are the rock types which contain higher concentrations of uranium and radium, the parent radionuclides of radon gas.

Radon gas (Chemical symbol Rn-222) is a result of the decay of Radium-226 (Ra-226) in soil. Radon gas can travel some distance through the soil because of its 3.8 day half-life.

As part of Congressionally mandated activities under the Indoor Radon Abatement Act, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with assistance from the US Geological Survey (USGS) has produced a map of Radon Zones for the State of North Carolina.

This map is designed to represent the average county-by-county potential for radon in air for the entire state of North Carolina. Because the map provides only county wide predictions requiring a number of assumptions about the geology and living habits of county residents among others it cannot be used to predict the radon level in any individual home or on any individual tract of land. The only way to actually determine home radon levels is to perform a test.

The most important characteristics of soil that determine how much radon is emitted and how far it can travel are the soil's radium content, the moisture in the soil and how easily the gas can travel through the soil (permeability). The moisture in the soil and permeability depend on the age and composition of the soil. EPA and USGS included all of these characteristics in their production of the Map of Radon Zones, along with survey data on uranium in soil, house architecture information and actual radon measurements. Based on the results from the Map of Radon Zones, there are eight North Carolina counties that qualify as Zone One counties. These counties are projected to have average radon in air levels greater than 4 pCi/L on average. Included in these counties is our near neighbor Mitchell County.

The EPA Map of Radon Zones shows the general trend of radon levels in the state. The levels tend to be lower in the Coastal Plain, then increase in the middle area of the state - the Piedmont, and increase more in the mountains. There are exceptions to this general such as Rockingham County, a Zone One county amidst generally Zone Two counties. Other exceptions are Wake County, Warren County and Franklin County, which are Zone Two counties with Zone Three counties nearby. These exceptions are often due to the different types of rock formations and geological features in the area.

Sources of Radon in your Home:

Most indoor radon enters homes from the soil or rock beneath it when Radon and otherSources of Radon in Homes gases rise through the soil and get trapped under the house. When warm air rises naturally inside the home, it creates a vacuum in the lower areas of the house. The natural reaction to this vacuum is air from beneath the structure containing radon is sucked up into the home through openings (cracks, doors, windows) on the lower levels. Radon gas enters the same way air and other soil gases enter the home; through cracks in the foundation floor or walls, hollow-block walls, and openings around floor drains, heating and cooling ductwork, pipes, and sump pumps. Once inside, the radon can become trapped and concentrated.

Outdoor air that is drawn into a building can also contribute to the indoor radon level. However, the average outdoor air level of radon is normally so low that it does not create a problem

Radon may also be dissolved in water, particularly well water. After coming from a faucet, about one ten thousandth of the radon in water is typically released into the air. The more radon there is in the water, the more it can contribute to the indoor radon level.

Trace amounts of uranium are sometimes incorporated into materials used in construction. These include, but are not limited to concrete, brick, granite, and drywall. Though these materials have the potential to produce radon, they are rarely the main cause of an elevated radon level in a building.

Radon has been found in elevated levels in many counties throughout North Carolina. However homes in the coastal plain of North Carolina usually have low radon levels, while the upper piedmont and mountain areas have the greatest proportion of homes with elevated levels of radon.

Radon and your Health

Exposure to radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the US behind smoking. It is estimated that radon causes about 15,000 deaths per year.

The health risk from radon occurs when it is inhaled. Radon gas decays or breaks down into radioactive particles which can damage lung cells and lead to lung cancer. Lung cancer risk is based on years of exposure and the concentration of radon to which one is exposed. The higher the radon level and number of years of exposure, the greater one's risk of developing lung cancer.

The health risk of excessive exposure to radon gas is an increased risk of lung cancer. Radon gas exposure has been estimated to contribute to between 7,000 and 30,000 lung cancer deaths each year. Smokers are at higher risk of developing Radon-induced lung cancer. The only health effect which has been definitively linked with radon exposure is lung cancer. Lung cancer would usually occur years (5-25) after exposure.

There are no immediate symptoms to indicate exposure. There is no evidence that other respiratory diseases, such as asthma, are caused by radon exposure and there is no evidence that children are at any greater risk of radon induced lung cancer than adults.

There is no debate about radon being a lung carcinogen in humans. All major national and international organizations that have examined the health risks of radon agree that it is a lung carcinogen. The scientific community continues to conduct research to refine our understanding of the precise number of deaths attributable to radon. EPA and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have independently placed that number at about 15,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the United States.

A few scientists have questioned whether low radon levels, such as those found in residences, increase the risk of lung cancer because some small studies of radon and lung cancer in residences have produced varied results. Some have shown a relationship between radon and lung cancer, some have not. However, the national and international scientific communities are in agreement that all of these residential studies have been too small to provide conclusive information about radon health risks. All major scientific organizations continue to believe that approximately 10% of lung cancers in the United States -- or about 15,000 lung cancer deaths annually -- are attributable to radon.

As long ago as the 16th century, miners were known to suffer from a variety of lung diseases, including lung cancer. It wasn't until the advent of modern medical techniques became available that the actual agent causing the cancer was identified.

Radon Reduction & Home Repairs

Radon problems can sometimes be fixed by caulking cracks along basement foundations, sealing leaks around pipes, and taking other steps to prevent radon from entering the house through places where the house structure is in contact with the ground. However, sealing alone does not solve a radon problem. A home will continue to settle and the sealing material will eventually wear out. A mitigation system installed by Vegter Builders is the best way to insure that indoor radon levels will be reduced over a long period of time.

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