What is Radon, Anyway?

Uncover the hidden danger lurking beneath your home in this captivating video! Learn about Radon, the radioactive gas that can seep into your space. Discover its history, science, and health risks. Don't miss out on crucial information that could affect your well-being. Watch now!

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[alexchu]

I hope Simon has radon detectors at his office since he's keeping his army of writers and editors in the lower basement there. Feeding them nothing but Magic Spoon in either Rotting Turtle or Beard Blaze oil as well as the daily whippings is bad enough but constantly exposing them to radon is going too far.

[rebeccasmith]

Fun fact: they discovered that Radon collects in basements in the 80’s, when someone working at a nuclear power plant set off the radiation detectors coming *into* work.

Also since the rock formations that decay into Radon occur geographically, your area either has issues or it doesn’t. It’s not likely your neighbor has Radon collect and you don’t- unless you’ve already mitigated it.

[wampaswomps]

Fun fact. I bought my house and detected Radon in the basement between levels 5-13 pcl, I then installed a fan which fixed the problem, bringing levels to 0.3. However, the lady and her husband that built my house in 1968, both lived very long lives. She lived to 102 and he lived to 90. Neither of them had cancer and passed from natural causes. This is middle Tennessee also.

EDIT: Their son is 68 and still lives beside me with no health issues. His room was IN MY BASEMENT for 25 years without a finished floor or sealer of any type when they owned the house. That means radon would have flowed more freely!

[jblyon]

Fun tidbit: An underground shelter was built near a facility that produced nuclear reactors for nuclear submarines. It was built in case there was an accident and staff needed to take refuge. The shelter had to be abandoned because to much Radon poured into it that it would have been safer to remain outside in the event of an accident with the nuclear fuel.

[MrDanmjack]

Marie curie was polish. Great research Simon.

[GallAnon]

Unless you live in a cave for 20 years straight, you don't have to worry about it.

[TheJediCaptain]

When I was in college, I had to sign a waiver for my apartment, stating that radon was used in the gas range and I was acknowledging that it was radioactive and absolved the apartment complex of any liability if I faced any health issies as a result.

[amb]

Yeah. I grew up in Elliot Lake, Ontario. We had radon detectors back in the 70s and 80s as a uranium mining town. I didn't even think about it. Now, since the town was re imagined as a retirement village, the defunct mining companies no longer provide detectors and the realtors never bothered mentioning the issue to new home owners. It's been a sh!t-storm of controversy as mining companies, realtors, and the Canadian gov't keep pointing fingers at each other whilst the radon problem doesn't get solved and people develop cancer.

[QueenofTNT]

I grew up in a town that mined lots of uranium in the 50s for the US Government during the Cold War. Because nobody knew about radon and how it could appear from decay, a bunch of old and important town buildings and homes were built with foundations using dirt from uranium tailings piles. Surprise surprise, most of those buildings got a radon problem later on. Most of the homes had to have their dirt foundations dug up and replaced with either clean dirt, concrete or stilts. My house is old enough to where it was effected, and the foundation had to have been replaced before my family moved in, as the house has a certificate of radon removal kept on file by the county. Shits wild.

[smstnitc]

Our last house had it bad when we first moved in. Spent about $1000 for a mitigation system that brought it down to minuscule levels. For comparison, apparently a measurement of 2.5 or more is considered unsafe. Our detector registered an average of 3.5, and as high as 16 when it rained. After mitigation was installed it never went over 1.0. Our current house floats between 0.3 and 1.5 thankfully.

[SergioLeonardoCornejo]

"Not enough radiation in water". I can't believe that would ever be said.

[Textile_Courtesan]

I have a friend who owns a home on the plains of Kansas. When sharing pictures of the new home I noted weird flu things and they explained that there was radon leakage in the basement and the flus safely removed radon build up and released it outside. Still weirded out by it.

[Diamonddavej]

I spent 2 weeks surveying an old Cornish mine as part of my college mine engineering course in 1996 (King Edward Mine / South Condurrow Mine), part of the mine cordoned off called the Radon Pit, it was too radioactive and full of radon gas to enter. Each cool March morning before we entered the mine they'd turn on the fans, and steamy radon rich air would blow out of the mine shaft, heated by the radioactive granite. They tested for radon on the last day, it was a "little bit" too high.

[emilyerickson]

I bought my old house in the country in 2019. Had a radon test and it was through the roof! Lucky for me, the seller had to pay for the radon mitigation system. i have a radon detector in my house now that tracks daily, weekly, and overall averages. I'd never heard of radon before I bought my house. Thanks for making this video so people are more aware!

[donaldwert]

Simon described the whole decay chain with a straight face. I'm proud of him.

[GTShlby]

I have a vented radon barrier under my basement with an electronic detector by code. It works, but if it detects radon an alarm sounds. I test it and replace batteries and units when I do my smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. The whole house has a fresh air system that runs through the hvac and the whole house is positive pressure. Modern technology and building codes.

[MikkellTheImmortal]

I live in British Columbia, Canada, and there is a town called Radium Hot Springs. It was named for the radium in the water and is still a well used and much loved destination for people. Not because of the Radium anymore fortunately but it's picturesque views and soothing natural springs. For more information, google it, don't bother me about the place, even I googled it for accuracy before posting this comment.

[Lama-drom]

Correction: Maria Skłodowska-Curie wasnt french, but polish. Her husband was french tho.

[PerplexdPumpkin]

In Ireland, its pretty much standard to put down radon barriers below the slab of new builds to seal it under the floor if any is found and a small pipe leading out to the footpath to allow for tests to be done to see if there is any radeon in the area

[Diamonddavej]

Rain can sometimes be highly radioactive due to radon, this can happen during thunderstorms. It's called Radon Washout. Heavy rain washes out radon's decay products (Bismuth-214 and Lead-214) suck to dust particles. This radon washout settles on surface, making surfaces sometimes highly radioactive (smooth surface can be wiped and tested, e.g. cars, solar panels, outdoor table tops). Sometimes nuclear workers set off radiation alarms when arriving for work, that's not supposed to happen. They may walk through radioactive puddles in the car park, picking up radon washout on their shoes. Radon washout decays quickly, as the mean half life of Bismuth-214 and Lead-214 is 20 minutes. e.g. Sellafield radiation alarm triggered by rise in 'naturally occurring' radon gas