Radon Be Gone Central New York Radon Solutions
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For radon concerns in Central New York, proper testing is your first step.
This website has just about everything you need to understand the geology and building science aspects of radon and it's health risks. New York state and county maps show where the radon hot spots are. Other information, on what radon is, how it gets into homes, how to measure it, and how much is too much. You will also find how to reduce your health risk of radon, including photos on how to reduce indoor radon in the air you breath and in your water. This web site is for home owners, home sellers, homebuyers, REALTORS®, property managers and day care operators, all of which will find important information here and throughout this website.
Your Central New York radon risk is impossible to determine without proper testing, and that's why testing for radon is so important. The varied geology puts radon levels all over the map, but depending where, on the map you are, there are some general guidelines that can help give you an idea of what kind of levels you can expect. Keep in mind these are only guidelines, and all houses should be tested regardless if they are in what is considered a high or low risk radon area.
Radon in water can be a problem in some parts of Central New York, while in other rocky areas it is not. Some of our radon is emanating from shallow glacial till, while water is drawn from deeper aquifers where it is never in contact with uranium-bearing rocks. Depending on were your water source comes from will help determine it it might have radon in it. Radon in water is linked to stomic cancer and other related cancers. If your are in a high radon area (much of Central New York) and your water comes from a deep well, or from a spring fed lake or reservoir that is supplied from a spring fed lake it would be a good idea to test your water for radon.
The conventional wisdom is that your neighbor's radon reading says very little about what you will find in your own home. This holds true for most of central New York's population. In rocky areas of hilly or mountainous regions we often find two houses side by side will have drastically different levels of radon gas; one house has very high, dangerous radon levels and right next door they could have very low and safe levels of radon. This is because of geographic areas where the uranium is in the rocks it can readily move up through well-defined seams in rock. The houses with the highest levels are likely directly above well defined seams and those with lower levels are not. The size and number of fractures in the rock as well as the amount of uranium present will determine the high verses the low and how high and how low the radon is. The amount of exposed rocks in an area can give us a hint.
There are some areas that are just the opposite; these are generally the flat areas where the radon is characterized by broad swaths of relatively uniform glacial rocks. In some of these areas if your neighbor has a radon problem, it's almost a certainty that you do too, as they don't tend to vary as much. For radon maps of the North East, New York and individual New York counties, click here.
Basic Facts of Radon in (New York and elsewhere)
The EPA classifies much of New York as a radon hot spot, a result of uranium dropped off by the glaciers thousands of years ago. In some areas of Central New York (notably Cortland 72%, Otsego 66%, Chenango 52%, and parts of Onondaga, Oneida, Madison, Cayuga, and Tompkins counties), most homes will "fail" the radon test. Maps and further details are found here.
Over the course of 5 billion years, an atom of uranium in the soil will be transformed by radioactive decay into an atom of ordinary lead. For only 4 days in this time (!), the atom is a gas (Radon) that can move through the soil; the rest of the time it's a solid, unable to move and cause mischief.
If our radon atom is to enter the breathing space of a home it must move rather quickly in its brief lifetime. This means that problem homes are either built very close to the source, or are on loose soil (sand or gravel) that allows easy migration of the gas.
Radon concentrations are measured in picocuries per liter (pCi/l). One pCi produces 2.2 radioactive events per minute. The US EPA has established an Action Level of 4 pCi/l for residential radon.
Radon concentrations tend to be the highest in rooms near the source, i.e. which contact the soil. In a typical two-story home, the average concentration on the first floor is 50-70% of that in the basement, and the second floor concentration is somewhat higher. Why is that? The second floor tends to be more closed up or tightly sealed than the first floor. The first floor has doors to the outside that let in fresh air and the first floor windows tend to be opened more.
Radon concentrations depend strongly on weather. Winter readings are higher than those in summer (even in closed-up homes) for three reasons:
1. A house acts like a giant chimney, with warm air rising and escaping at the top, creating a slight vacuum ("draft") at the bottom. In winter, the warm air in the house is quite buoyant, and so this chimney effect is stronger, creating a stronger vacuum in the basement and drawing in more "soil gas."
2. Most furnaces steal air from the basement for combustion, sending it up the chimney. That air has to be replaced (otherwise the house would deflate), and some of the replacement will come from underground.
3. When the ground freezes, there is no exchange of air between ground and atmosphere. In other words, there is nowhere else for the radon to go except through homes.
In the same way if there is a period of prolonged rain, in some soils the ground water can saturate the soil pores and deter the radon from moving up through the water soaked soil. The radon gas will take the path of least resistance which can be up through the dry soil under your basement slab, through some cracks or drains into your home. So in some homes you will get higher levels of radon during rainy periods.
The magnitude of the weather effect varies from home to home. In extreme cases winter radon readings may be double those found in summer.
If your house is on a hill or hill side the direction of the prevailing wind when perpendicular to the ridgeline creates lift (just as it would in passing over an airplane wing), sharply increasing the stack effect and raising radon levels. This is one reason it is recommended that radon testing should not be done during a time of prolonged winds above 30 mph.
Now you know more than 99% of the public about the basics of radon. For specific info on radon topics (testing, fixing, water, etc.) please explore the links in the top panel. The Frequently Asked Questions page would be a good place to start.
Radon Be Gone, Making Homes Safe in Central New York
Call for a FREE estimate to PERMANENTLY fix your home's radon problem:
1-800-931-9972
8455 E. Seneca Turnpike, Manlius, New York Phone: (315) 439-1103 or (607) 216-9025 Fax: (315) 682-7601
Email: tom@RadonBeGoneCny.com