How Radon Enters Your Home

Radon gas is harmless when dispersed in outdoor air but can be a serious health hazard when trapped in homes and buildings.

Radon gas can enter a home through soil, dirt crawlspaces, cracks in foundations and walls, floor drains, pipes and sump pumps. Radon can invade any home, old or new, or even those "tightly sealed homes" with no visible cracks. Because each home is unique, the ground underneath it is also unique. Two houses side-by-side can have completely different radon levels. The only way to know your home's radon levels is to measure them.

Radon also can enter a home through the well water. If your water contains high levels of radon, the radon gas escapes into the household air when the water is running. According to the EPA, radon in your water supply poses an inhalation risk and an ingestion risk. Research has shown that your risk of lung cancer from breathing radon in air is much larger than your risk of stomach cancer from swallowing water with radon in it.

Radon gets into your home through: