Crawl Space Ninja Podcast with Michael Church

Radon Testing: Protect Your Home from the Silent Threat of Lung Cancer

• Michael Church, Founder of Crawl Space Ninja • Season 1 • Episode 1

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Are you aware of the risks of radon in your home? Radon is an invisible, odorless gas that can pose serious health risks, including lung cancer. In this comprehensive podcast, we cover everything you need to know about DIY radon testing and why it's crucial to test your home today. Whether you're a homeowner, renter, or real estate professional, this podcast is for you. Get a First Alert Radon Test Kit.

Check out Michael's book, "Crawl Space Repair Myths-Busted" now available on Amazon!

We start by explaining the importance of radon testing and who should be particularly vigilant. Radon is classified as a Class A carcinogen, meaning it's known to cause cancer in humans. We'll delve into the statistics, highlighting the number of radon-related deaths each year, and discuss why even low levels of radon can be harmful over time.

If you live in Tennessee, you'll be pleased to learn about the availability of free radon test kits. We'll guide you on how to obtain one and explain the average radon levels found in homes across the state. Understanding these averages can help you gauge the severity of radon in your own home and take appropriate action.

Our podcast also explores the various sources of radon, from the soil beneath your home to building materials and water supply. Knowing where radon comes from can help you better understand how it enters your living space. We then move on to discuss different radon test methods, including short-term and long-term tests, and provide tips for ensuring testing accuracy.

Choosing the best location for your radon test is crucial for obtaining reliable results. We offer practical advice on where to place your test kit and what environmental factors to consider. Additionally, we highlight common mistakes to avoid when testing for radon, ensuring you get the most accurate readings possible.

You'll learn how to perform the radon test step-by-step, from setting up the test kit to interpreting the results. If you're unsure about any part of the process, don't worry—we've got you covered with clear, easy-to-follow instructions.

Finally, we recommend additional resources for understanding radon and its impacts on health and home safety. By the end of this podcast, you'll be equipped with the knowledge and tools needed to safeguard your home from the dangers of radon.

Don't wait—watch now and take the first step towards a healthier, safer home environment. Be sure to like, share, and subscribe for more tips on improving indoor air quality and maintaining a healthy home. If you have any questions or experiences to share, leave a comment below. Your engagement helps us create more valuable content for you!

Ensure your home is safe from the invisible dangers of radon. Listen now and take control of your indoor air quality today!

Need help: https://crawlspaceninja.com or https://diy.crawlspaceninja.com

**Podcast Chapters:**
- DIY Radon Testing & Why 00:00
- Who is this podcast for? 00:45
- Class A Carcinogen 01:46
- Radon Deaths 02:37
- Free Radon Test Kit in Tennessee 03:41
- Average Radon Levels in Homes 04:04
- Homes Affected by High Radon 04:46
- The Source of Radon 05:25
- Radon Test Methods 05:54
- Tips for Radon Testing Accuracy 06:33
- Choosing Best Radon Test Location 08:02
- Never Do This When Testing for Radon 09:25
- Performing the Radon Test 10:19
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Check out Michael's book, "Crawl Space Repair Myths-Busted" now available on Amazon!

Need help: https://crawlspaceninja.com or https://diy.crawlspaceninja.com

Michael Church: 0:00

Hey there, Michael Church, Crawl, Space Ninja and Basement Ninja. I've got some great radon testing tips for you all to show you a little bit about the importance of addressing radon in your home. Now. This is a huge, huge problem and overlooked by a lot of homeowners. Don't go by those radon maps that you see. I would encourage each of you to test your home. Now I'm going to put some links to some test kits that you can get via Amazon that I recommend. The first one I would recommend you get is the First Alert test kit. This is a great test kit. I've got links down below so you can grab that one Great, great test kit. So let's get started.

Michael Church: 0:40

This is for individuals that are concerned about their indoor air quality. Unfortunately, radon usually only comes up during a real estate transaction. But please, please. I encourage you if you are concerned about your air quality, make sure you check for radon yourself. Even if the test was done during the real estate transaction, I would recommend you do your own test Because, believe it or not, there are ways to cheat the radon test, and I'm sure there's a bunch of videos out there telling people how to do it, but not that the tester would do that, but sometimes the homeowners might think about doing those sort of things and they don't always get caught. So make sure that, if you've just recently moved into a home, check the radon levels. And I'm not accusing everybody of being malicious, but let's face it, there are some people out there that don't want to spend money on radon systems, so they will try to do everything they can to bypass those tests.

Michael Church: 1:37

Did you know that radon is a class A or class 1 carcinogen? By the way, the EPA considers a class A carcinogen as a pollutant with adequate human data indicating that the chemical causes cancer in people. So I've given a list of some of the class A or class one carcinogens that I'm sure most of you have heard of Radon, arsenic, asbestos, benzene, formaldehyde, hexavalent chromium, tobacco smoke and vinyl chloride. Now quick trivia question Tell me which of these was featured in the Julia Roberts movie, Erin Brockovich. Okay, so one of these that I've listed here was featured in that movie.

Michael Church: 2:22

Again trying to bring a little bit of awareness, Did you know that, according to the North Carolina Department of Human Health, every year there are over 21,000 deaths associated with elevated radon levels? It is the number two cause of lung cancer and the number one cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. It is responsible for more deaths than home fires and carbon monoxide and you know, I just want to say the carbon monoxide is great statistic as far as how low that number is, because I feel like we have done a good job. Indoor air quality people and, of course, Carbon monoxide testing devices are readily available all over. They've done a really good job of getting that word out about carbon monoxide and I'm hoping that they will start doing the same for radon.

Michael Church: 3:14

The state of Tennessee, for example, has Radon Awareness Month in January every year and it really, really needs to be talked about more often. Speaking of the state of Tennessee, if you do happen to live in this state, you can apply for a free radon test kit. They have a Tennessee radon program If you're in Tennessee. I'll also put a link in the description down below. So the average radon levels indoors is 1.3 picocuries per liter and the average outdoor radon level is 0.4 picocuries per liter. Man, that's a tough word to say.

Michael Church: 3:51

By the way, they recommend that if you are above two picocuries per liter inside your home, you should consider getting radon mitigated, and if you are four or above, it should be done no questions asked. Of course it's your home, you do what you want, but during a real estate transaction it would be dinged at four picocuries or above. And speaking of that, the national average for four picocuries or above is 7%. In other words, one in 15 homes has elevated radon levels. And again, this is according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. So that doesn't mean that only North Carolina has a radon problem.

Michael Church: 4:36

Across the country there's pockets of radon everywhere you go. If you're not in a radon or a high radon map level area, I still would encourage you to check it just to be sure, because you could have high radon and your neighbor I still would encourage you to check it just to be sure, because you could have high radon and your neighbor on both sides of you could not. So it's better to be safe and sorry when it comes to that. And, of course, the source of all radon that we experience in our homes typically comes from the soil. There is a small amount of radon that can enter via the water system, but most of the time it's coming through soil pressurization into the house. That's why they recommend soil depressurization systems in order to address radon. So that's the number one way to get rid of radon in most cases.

Michael Church: 5:23

And, of course, now let's talk about the test methods. There are continual test methods and then one-time test methods, and I'll list a few of these but electret ion testing chambers, charcoal canisters, liquid scintillations, alpha tracks and, of course, continuous monitorings. All of these are used by radon testing professionals and some DIYers in order to test for radon. But what we're going to be talking about is the one-time use charcoal testing kits that you can get from Home Depot, Lowe's, different places like that. So let's get in some tips for how to make sure that the test goes accurate and is very accurate whenever you're doing it.

Michael Church: 6:05

Number one you want to make sure you close all the windows and the doors a minimum of 12 hours before testing. If you are doing this during a real estate transaction, they recommend having two tests next to each other whenever you're doing the test kit. A lot of the times, a test kit will look like this It'll come packaged and sealed and then you would open these up and you would place two of them next to each other during a real estate transaction, but you can place them throughout the room, one of the things I forgot to mention here is if you have a basement with multiple HVAC systems, or perhaps a multiple slabs maybe you built on or added on and there's different footer systems inside of the basement, you want to make sure that you test each of those footer systems or each of those HVAC central units. Use the dehumidifiers and the heating and air units just as you normally would, but try to avoid any exhaust fans or ventilations, the bathroom fans, your ERVs, your HRVs Try to avoid those, unless you're running them normally, like you always would, of course. And then severe weather can change the radon levels inside of a building. So if you've got a big thunderstorm coming through or a lot of wind or something like that, you want to make sure that you try not to do the test during a major storm.

Michael Church: 7:28

Okay, now let's talk about choosing a test location. You always want to place the test at the lowest living level area, okay. So in a basement, for example, I used to tell people never, ever, place them in a crawl space. But believe it or not, I just did an interview with Ian in North Carolina, and he goes down. He uses his crawl space as his work area, so he's got his computer down there. It's tall enough for him to work in the area. He's got electrical and everything. He's even putting in a heating and air system down there to control the temperature. So if you're using your crawl space in that way, you would want to test in your crawl space or in your basement. So crawl spaces are not out just because they're crawl spaces. But if you're not using them in that way, then don't worry about testing in your crawl space. Always place it in the central part of the room you want to place it within two to seven feet of the floor, Place at least three feet from exterior windows and doors and at least one foot from the walls, and ensure that there is at least six inches of space over the test. I wouldn't recommend you put it in a bedroom, where it could get knocked over or something like that, or in the middle of the TV room so you can't see the TV either. So these are some good tips for choosing a test location.

Michael Church: 8:51

Some things not to do when testing. Do not place the air sampler near the HVAC vents or anywhere where there's constant air moving. Do not allow the sample to get wet or in a room with high humidity. Believe it or not. High humidity can throw off the test. So I would recommend obviously you want to keep it below 60%. I like 50% to be better. But that charcoal, if it's got a lot of moisture in it and of course charcoal does absorb moisture then that's less room for the radon to get into the charcoal. Do not place near closets or, I'm sorry, do not place inside closets or, as I mentioned, I've already covered the crawl spaces pretty well Do not place in direct sunlight or near a heat source, because that can throw off the sample. And do not move the sample once you've started testing. So those are some do nots as far as the test kits.

Michael Church: 9:46

Now to perform the test, you want to make sure that you expose the test between 48 and 96 hours. In fact, anything less than two days or anything more than seven days will create an invalid test. You want to make sure you register the start date and time on the information form given with the test and then register the stop date and time on the information form, Seal the sample in the mailer and send it to the lab ASAP. They need to get it within 10 days of the stop time. That may mean that you have to perhaps FedEx it or overnight it, even though a lot of times the mailer is included. If your postal service doesn't deliver things in a timely manner, you may want to spend that extra money to send it overnight, because if they get it later than 10 days they're going to consider it invalid and then you're going to have to do it all over again and then, of course, return multiple tests in their own mailers. You don't want to put like six tests in one mailer. Make sure that you seal them within their own mailers and they'll come with all that inside the test kits.

Michael Church: 10:58

Last thing I want to recommend if you haven't had a chance, I highly encourage you to watch this video I did with Bruce Sneed of Kansas State University, Expert in radon. Great information. I highly recommend you check out this video with Bruce Sneed of Kansas State University, expert in radon Great information. I highly recommend you check out this video with Bruce Sneed and I am Michael Church with Crawl, Space Ninja and Basement Ninja. We hope you make it a happy and blessed day and we'll see you later.