Why is radon in houses still dangerous?

[96alex]

1. I've been wondering about this a lot. It's about the health risks of radon in houses, since radon has a half-life of 3.8 days, and most radon houses(at least where I live(sweden)) were built it the sixties, how come it's still such a big problem? Shouldn't the radon have decayed by now? I know the "parent" element to radon is radium and that it's half-life is 1620 years so is that the problem? The amount of radium?


Thanks in advance

 

[dauto]

Radon is constantly being produced in underground rocks. Being a noble gas it easily sips out of the rock and can potentially build up inside homes where it decays.

 

[CWatters]

What Dauto said.

In some countries the building regulations require Radon barriers to be added to floor and/or a ventilated voids below the floor. Lots of info out there..

http://www.ukradon.org/information/reducelevels

http://www.melton.gov.uk/PDF/Radon%20-%20Protective%20Measures%20in%20New%20Dwellings.pdf

 

[DrClaude]

Many cases of radon in houses in Sweden is actually due to the use of "blue concrete" (blåbetong), which was made using lime containing uranium. It is that uranium which is decaying and producing radon.

A good source of information (for those who can read Swedish) is http://www.radonguiden.se/

 

[96alex]

Thanks for the fast replies mates!

I found that uranium is the bad guy in this, it's the one constantly supplying radon since it's half life is millions of years!

Again, thanks!