![]() In 1984, an odd coincidence known as the "Watras Incident" led to the discovery of the highest radon reading ever in Pennsylvania and ultimately urged the EPA to get involved in monitoring radon levels in residential homes. The EPA also recommends that people think about fixing their homes for radon levels between 2 pCi/L and 4 pCi/L. Surgeon General and EPA recommend fixing homes with radon levels at or above 4 pCi/L. ![]() The average outdoor level is about 0.4 pCi/L. In the United States, the average indoor radon level is about 1.3 pCi/L, according to the EPA. Radon levels can be greater in homes and buildings that are well-insulated, tightly sealed or built on soil rich in the radioactive elements uranium, radium and thorium.Ī measurement of radioactivity is picocuries per liter of air (pCi/L). It can also be released from building materials or through water originating from radon-contaminated wells, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The odorless gas can enter homes through cracks in walls, floors and foundations. 1 cause of lung cancer among non-smokers and is associated with approximately 21,000 lung cancer deaths a year 2,900 of those deaths occur among people who have never smoked.Īround one in 15 homes in the United States has elevated radon levels. Radium had been discovered just two years earlier by the Nobel Prize winning scientist Marie Curie.Īccording to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), radon is the No. He discovered the new gas, which he referred to as radium "emanation," while studying radium's decay chain. Most common isotope: Rn-222 (half-life of 3.823 days)Ĭredit for the discovery of radon is given to German chemist Friedrich Ernst Dorn in 1900, according to Chemicool.Number of isotopes (atoms of the same element with a different number of neutrons): 3 naturally occurring (radon-219, radon-220, and radon-222) 33 whose half-lives are known with mass numbers 196 to 228 none are stable.Boiling point: minus 79 F (minus 61.7 C).Melting point: minus 95 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 71 degrees Celsius).Atomic weight (average mass of the atom): 222.Atomic symbol (on the periodic table of the elements): Rn.Atomic number (number of protons in the nucleus): 86.Radon has no known biological purpose but is believed to have played a major role in evolution, since radiation is required for genetic modifications to take place, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. Radon is rare in nature because its isotopes are so short-lived and because its main source radium is also quite rare, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.
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