Georgia homes remain at high risk for unsafe radon levels

Regardless of where your home is or how it is built, we recommend testing for radon gas.

By Leigh Anne Aaron, Morgan County Family and Consumer Sciences Extension, for Morgan County Citizen

Radon is an odorless gas that seeps out of soil and rock and into the air. It is formed when uranium that is found in soil and rock, breaks down, emitting radon gas. While radon is not dangerous outdoors, if it emerges under a home it can seep in and reach dangerous concentrations. The only way to detect radon is to test for it.

Exposing yourself and your family to a high level of radon over several years increases the risk of developing lung cancer. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer behind smoking.

About one in 15 homes have an elevated level of radon (4 picocuries per liter or greater). In much of Georgia, homes are much more likely to have elevated levels of radon when compared to the national average. Granite rock found in the soil beneath our homes elevates the risk for radon intrusion.

To help you identify the risk of radon in your county, the University of Georgia Radon Program recently updated its radon map. Visit radon.uga.edu to view an interactive map of radon risk throughout the state. Read More

Source: Morgan County Citizen