<strong> <a href="http://careandhealed.com/2010/04/why-is-there-radon-in-my-house/">Why Is There Radon In My House? Where Does This Thing Come From?</a></strong><p><span class="rdetector_placeholder_before"></span> <div style="padding: 1.2em; background-color: #hex_here; line-height: 1.4;"> <p><img class="alignleft" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4507191961_8bf5814d47_m.jpg" alt="lungs_1" width="240" height="240" />Do you know lung cancer? If you think that lung cancer is caused by ONLY smoking cigarrettes, think again. The truth is smoking cigarette is not the only one. There’s a hidden danger who stay still around us, and unfortunately it’s around our house. What is it? Let’s find out.</p> <p>It’s quite interesting (or scaring) to know that <a title="EPA" href="http://www.epa.gov" target="_blank">EPA (Environment Protection Agency</a>) give a very big concern to radon as they place questionnair about radon at the front page of their website. The question they ask is How many USA lung cancer deaths each year are due to radon? 200? 2000? 20000? Or 200000? According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, radon is the second most frequent cause of lung cancer, after cigarette smoking, causing 21,000 lung cancer deaths per year in the United States. It’s already know that Radon is the greatest source of radiation exposure to the general public and is the second leading cause of lung cancer.</p> <p><img class="aligncenter" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2067/4507821184_a0dcf3c228_m.jpg" alt="radon_piechart" width="240" height="208" /></p> <p>So, it means that radon is a extremely dangerous substance. Whether it has been already in our body or not, we’ve never known. The question is, how many lung cancer deaths will be due to radon? Have we done something to protect our body from radon exposure? Would you go to workd and leave your family in the house with radon in it?</p> <h2>First Question, What Is Radon?</h2> <p>It’s a gas. No, it’s worse than gas. Radon is a natural radioactive gas without odour, colour or taste. It cannot be detected without special equipment. Radon occurs as a product of uranium decay. Uranium is a natural radioactive material found in varying amounts in all rocks, soil, concrete and bricks. It occurs everywhere on earth, especially in rocky and mountainous areas. Radon is an unstable radionuclide that disintegrates through short lived decay products before eventually reaching the end product of stable lead. The short lived decay products of radon are responsible for most of the hazard by inhalation. Just as uranium is present in all rocks and soils, so are radon and radium because they are daughter products formed by the radioactive decay of uranium.</p> <p>I knew radon when I got chemistry subject in high school. When I entered medical faculty, I never knew about this substance since no subject told about it. It’s known that radon is a source of radiation. I thought that this substance is located deep in center of the earth. Therefore I’m quite surprised when I know that we could have been living with radon all this time! Because radon is a gas, it has much greater mobility than uranium and radium, which are fixed in the solid matter in rocks and soils. Radon can more easily leave the rocks and soils by escaping into fractures and openings in rocks and into the pore spaces between grains of soil.</p> <p><a title="Radon Gas Penetration" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/48100067@N06/4507820790/"><img class="”aligncenter”" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2415/4507820790_061c8e49f9_o.jpg" alt="radon gas 2" width="450" height="382" /></a></p> <p>(continue to <a href="http://careandhealed.com/2010/04/ searching-for-the-cracks-in-the-wall"> Radon, Searching For The Cracks In The Wall</a>)</p> </div> <input type="hidden" id="rdetector_data" value="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" name="rdetector_data" /><span class="rdetector_placeholder_after"></span></p> <p>Related posts:</p><ol><li><a href='http://careandhealed.com/2010/04/searching-for-the-cracks-in-the-wall/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Radon, Searching For The Cracks In The Wall'>Radon, Searching For The Cracks In The Wall</a></li> <li><a href='http://careandhealed.com/2010/04/7-steps-of-radon-prevention-strategies-part-1/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: 7 Steps of Radon Prevention Strategies (Part 1)'>7 Steps of Radon Prevention Strategies (Part 1)</a></li> <li><a href='http://careandhealed.com/2010/04/7-steps-of-radon-prevention-strategies-part-2/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: 7 Steps of Radon Prevention Strategies (Part 2)'>7 Steps of Radon Prevention Strategies (Part 2)</a></li> <li><a href='http://careandhealed.com/2009/11/formaldehyde-in-your-house/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: FORMALDEHYDE, THE HIDDEN DANGER IN YOUR HOUSE'>FORMALDEHYDE, THE HIDDEN DANGER IN YOUR HOUSE</a></li> <li><a href='http://careandhealed.com/2009/11/toxic-voc-for-your-interior/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: A TOXIC VOC FOR YOUR INTERIOR PAINTS'>A TOXIC VOC FOR YOUR INTERIOR PAINTS</a></li> </ol><br> <div style="border: 2px dashed #C2C2C2;padding: 3px;background: #FFFFFF;padding:7px;"> This article is published by <a href="http://careandhealed.com">http://careandhealed.com</a>. 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