A Dangerous Chemical Pollutant: Radon

People have little knowledge of indoor pollution, and thus they often confuse radon with formaldehyde. They know less about the harm, detection and prevention of radon. In fact, radon exists in every corner of our life because it is a radioactive idle gas. It has no color, no odor, and comes from the decay of radium. It is one and only natural radioactive idle gas, its specific gravity 7.5 times than the air. Indoor radon mainly comes from the following ways:

Radon dissolved from the soil
Deep in the ground, the soil that contains uranium, radium and thorium also contains much radon which can be brought to the surface and spread into the room. In general, lower floors contain more radon.

Radon dissolved from the building materials
Building materials are the main source of indoor radon, such as granites, bricks, cements and gypsums, especially the natural stones containing radioactive elements. Various building materials contain different amount of radioactive elements owing to their different geologic structures, producing areas and ages. According to a selective examination carried out by State Bureau of Quality Technical Supervision, granites contain the most radioactive elements.

Radon carried in by the outdoor air
In the open, there is little radon in the air. But when the air comes into the room, radon accumulates there. Indoor radon is seasonal, most in winter and least in summer. From the above, we can see indoor ventilation conditions determine the amount of radon.

Radon discharged from the natural gas from the heating and kitchen equipment.

Radon is that dangerous because it is non volatile. Volatile gas can decrease its harm as time goes on but radon can not. Thus, radon in the subterranean dwellings is about 40 times more than that in the above ground dwellings.

As radon has no odor and no color, people are harmed without any notice. There are many harms of radon. First radon caused the lung cancer. It is the second biggest factor that induces lung cancer. World Health Organization listed it into one of 18 carcinogens. Second, it causes leukemia. Third, it deprives people’s ability to have children by killing spermia. In addition, radon
can affect people’s nervous system. As a result, people feel sleep and depressed. Experts say that radon has become super killer of people’s health.

And thus, we hope people can study some related knowledge to protect themselves from radon’s harms. For example, people can constantly open the windows and doors to let the indoor dirty air out.