How Can One Get to Suffer From Radon Poisoning?
Thousands of people are affected by radon poisoning every year, and almost half the lung cancer cases are triggered by exposure to this radioactive element. How can one get to suffer from radon poisoning? The problem is that this gas is both odorless and colorless; it gets into our homes through cracks and openings in the basement floors and the low-ground areas, accumulating in such enclosed spaces in extremely dangerous amounts. Basically, radon poisoning refers to the impact of the alpha particles resulting from the decay of the gas on the lung cells: cellular division is no longer possible and the deep organ tissues are affected.
The symptoms of radon poisoning, which are the same with those of lung cancer include persistent cough that keeps getting worse, coughing up blood, breathing difficulties, chest pains, wheezing and recurring infections such as pneumonia or bronchitis. Unfortunately the survival rate of lung cancer patients is not higher than 15%, which only leads to the conclusion that radon poisoning is lethal on the long term. The important thing is to act before you are the victim of radon poisoning: any home owner should test the house for radon gas levels by means of very easy to use devices.
Which are the most exposed geographical areas to radon poisoning? Data concerning such matters is available on many Internet sites, particularly since radon exposure is closely connected to natural levels of radiation specific to a certain geographical area. Therefore, people living in parts of the globe where uranium is extracted for instance, or which have been labeled as radioactive, are more exposed to radon poisoning than others. If outdoors, radon gas levels are completely harmless and insignificant in terms of quantity, not the same thing can be said about indoors accumulation. This is the one hazard everyone fears most.
Some studies have revealed a certain connection between lung cancer development in heavy smokers and people who have been the victims of radon poisoning. Apparently, if the two issues overlap, chances of survival grow close to nil and the degradation of the lung tissue is far more rapid. The only way to stop radon poisoning is by preventing it; thus, make sure the ventilation systems are in good condition, avoid sleeping or living in basement areas and have the home tested for radon gas as often as you can, particularly if high gas levels have been discovered before.
Symptoms of Radon Gas Poisoning Appear Only After the Condition Has Become Serious
Though highly toxic and dangerous for one's health, radon is very hard to identify, or to be more accurate: it is almost impossible to tell whether a home is exposed to radon or not by merely relying on human senses. Since it is both odorless and colorless, this radioactive gas that enters basements and living areas located at the ground level, can cause severe poisoning that ends up in fatal lung tissue decay. Cancer triggered by radon gas poisoning is hard to tell, since the symptoms are all the same for lung affections: coughing, wheezing, heavy breath, infections like pneumonia and bronchitis.
Symptoms of radon gas poisoning are very likely to appear only after the condition has become pretty serious, and when cancer is already in the middle if not in the final stage of evolution. Without home testing for radon accumulation, many patients remain unaware of the cause that triggered the affection in the first place. Furthermore, the same risk remains for the rest of the family members, not to mention that children and youngsters and adult smokers are the ones to experience the first symptoms. Hence, it is highly important that a close monitoring of the radon levels be made on a periodical basis.
The best way to prevent radon gas poisoning is to use a combination of short and long-term tests to measure the gas levels both in the basement and the living areas. Afterwards, immediate precaution measures need to be taken in order to prevent the increase of the radon levels: seal all the cracks and openings in the basement floor and walls, check and recondition the ventilation system if necessary, check all the pipes with their joints and fittings, and have an expert analyze the house condition and see what other supplementary radon mitigation devices may be needed.
Radon gas poisoning can be avoided if you take the time to test a house before buying it. Mention should be made that radon gas accumulation varies not just from year to year, but from day to day, this means that the results of some tests performed now may no longer be valid within several weeks. Hence the need for using long-term radon tests is a must: such devices collect data for extended periods of time, providing a solid basis for determining the average radon levels to which you are exposed throughout a year for instance.
