An invisible danger in many homes and schools

As kids return to school across the nation, you might find yourself thinking about child safety. Some parents take steps to protect youngsters from illnesses, accidents or bullying. Unfortunately, numerous Americans overlook the threat of radon gas. This odorless substance causes far more lung cancer fatalities than secondhand cigarette smoke, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Health Risks

Children's minds and bodies have yet to fully develop, so they're particularly vulnerable. Kids also possess relatively small lungs. This forces them to breathe more quickly and inhale extra particles. The risk for childhood leukemia increases with exposure to radon gas. Excessive radon levels raise the likelihood of a leukemia diagnosis by about 20 to 60 percent. Students sometimes develop cancer before reaching adolescence.

Home Testing

If you want to protect your children from this serious danger, the first step is to test your home. About 7 percent of American dwellings contain too much radon. It's particularly important to check indoor air for this gas. If your drinking water comes from a well, consider testing it. Water can also deliver harmful radioactive particles with the potential to trigger stomach cancer.

School Testing

Almost 20 percent of American schools contain one or more classrooms with excessive radon gas levels. This means that students probably face dangerous conditions in over 70,000 classrooms nation-wide. Nonetheless, many municipal governments have yet to test the air in local school buildings. Another problem is that most states don't require these facilities to properly address radon contamination.

The Environmental Protection Agency urges every school to undergo testing. You can help make this happen by contacting your child's educational institution. Ask for the test results and suggest that the school perform testing if it hasn't already done so. Does the building have any classrooms in its basement? If so, children may face a greater risk of radon-linked medical problems.

Solutions

When a test reveals excessive radon levels in a home or school, mitigation professionals can address the problem. Greater ventilation often provides an effective solution. Building owners may also seal cracks in the foundation, but this strategy usually doesn't work as well. Water aeration or filtration removes radioactive particles from drinking water. People spend more money to install aeration equipment, but it eliminates the need to replace and dispose of filters.

SWAT Environmental provides the testing supplies needed to check a building for radon gas. Our company also works to banish this hidden carcinogen from homes and schools. During the past 29 years, we've served over 100,000 customers throughout the nation. We tackle this problem in residential, commercial and public buildings. For further details on the best ways to protect your children from radon, please contact us today.