Radon Information
LOCATED IN NEW HARMONY SERVING EVANSVILLE, NEWBURGH, NEW HARMONY, POSEYVILLE AND SURROUNDING AREAS
What is Radon?
Radon is an extremely toxic, colorless gas; it can be condensed to a transparent liquid and to an opaque, glowing solid; it is derived from the radioactive decay of radium and is used in cancer treatment, as a tracer in leak detection, and in radiography. (From the word radium, the substance from which it is derived.)
Sources: Condensed Chemical Dictionary, and Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 69th ed., CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1988.
Where does radon come from?
Radon-222 is the decay product of radium. Radon-222 and its parent, radium, are part of the long decay chain for uranium. Since uranium is essentially ubiquitous (being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time) in the earth’s crust, radium and radon are present in almost all rock, all soil and water.
The amount of radon in the soil depends on soil chemistry, which varies from one house to the next. Radon levels in the soil range from a few hundred to several thousands of pCi/L (picocuries per liter) in air. The amount of radon that escapes from the soil to enter the house depends on the weather, soil porosity, soil moisture, and the suction within the house.