Facts about Radon
The trend in geothermal plants is to reinject all emissions by pumping deep underground, and this seems likely to decrease such radon hazards further.
Radon emanation from the soil varies with soil type and surface uranium content, so outdoor radon concentrations can be used to track air masses to a limited degree.
Some researchers have checked to see if rapid changes in soil radon concentrations or elevated levels of radon in the soil can be used as predictors for earthquakes.
Some of the daughter products from the radioactive decay of radon (such as polonium) are also toxic.
Natural radon concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere are so low that radon-rich water in contact with the atmosphere will continually lose the gas by volatilization.
The concentration of radon in the soil has been used experimentally to map subsurface geological faults, because concentrations are generally higher over the faults.
Some experts have hypothesized that it is the result of better housing construction, which allows radon to accumulate rather than seep back into the natural environment.
Radon (named after radium) was discovered in 1900 by Friedrich Ernst Dorn, who called it radium emanation.
Radon is a known pollutant emitted from geothermal power stations, but it disperses rapidly, and no radiological hazard has been demonstrated in various investigations.
Radon (chemical symbol Rn, atomic number 86) is a chemically inert but highly radioactive noble gas.
Many of these regions have granitic soils, but not all granitic regions are prone to high emissions of radon.
Others have reported the production of radon clathrates, which are composed of cage-like molecules containing radon atoms.
At some "radon spas" in the United States and Europe, people sit for minutes or hours in a high-radon atmosphere in the belief that airborne radiation will invigorate or energize them.
Medically unsupervised "radon therapy," involving exposure to ionizing radiation from radon, is a controversial activity.
Radon emitted from the ground has been shown to accumulate in the air if there is a meteorological inversion and little wind.
The danger of radon exposure in homes was discovered in 1984, with the case of Stanley Watras, an employee at the Limerick nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.
Following this discovery, which was highly publicized, national radon safety standards were set, and radon detection and ventilation became a standard concern for homeowners.
Some researchers have found that radon reacts with fluorine to form radon fluoride.
Nonetheless, the rapid radioactive decay of radon limits the usefulness of its compounds.
The exposure to radioactivity from inhaled radon and its daughter products is thought to be the source of malignant changes.
Radon is used in hydrologic research, when studying the interactions between groundwater, streams, and rivers.
Depending on how houses are built and ventilated, radon may accumulate in basements of dwellings.
The concentration of radon in the soil has been used experimentally to map subsurface geological faults, because concentrations are generally higher over the faults.
According to their statistics, nearly one in 15 homes in the United States has a high level of indoor radon.
Given that radon is a daughter-product of uranium, uranium mines have high concentrations of radon and its highly radioactive decay products.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends action for any house with a radon concentration higher than 148 becquerels per cubic meter (Bq/m3) (given as four pCi/L), and encourages action starting at 74 Bq/m3.