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Home-Spec Inspections LLC
ASHI Certified Home Inspections We Inspect Colorado! Aurora Arvada Broomfield
Boulder Denver Golden Lakewood
Littleton Parker Westminster |
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SHOULD I TEST FOR RADON and MOLDS?
Radon,
like cigarette smoke, is only dangerous when breathed into the lungs where it
can become attached to the lung tissue. The American Lung Association
believes that lung cancer risk from sleeping in a room for 20 years with the
radon level around 10 pCi/L(pico curies per liter of air) would be roughly
equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes per day for 20 years. Radon
is a naturally occurring element like oxygen or carbon, except radon is
slightly radioactive. Radon gas can be found in the ground, just about
everywhere. It slowly seeps out of the ground and is usually swept away and
diluted to a harmless level by the wind. However It can leak into homes
directly from the ground through basement floors and walls. Radon gas is
colorless and odorless and it is heavier than air so it tends to stay near
the floor, especially in basement rooms with little air circulation. The
average worldwide, indoor radon level is around 1.3 pCi/L. The U.S. EPA is
currently recommending that action be taken when the home radon level reaches
4.0 pCi/L. A typical
"action" to reduce the level of radon is to paint basement walls
and floor and install one or more "bathroom sized" exhaust fans in
the basement area. Most
of Colorado is classified as a Zone 1 area; which means that homes within this
area are likely to have a radon level greater than 4.0 pCi/L. You can expect that most Colorado homes,
with poorly ventilated basement rooms to have radon levels above 4.0 pCi/L. Home-spec
strongly recommends doing a radon test for any home with an occupied basement
bedroom! Here are two web sites that give more information about Radon
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/Pubs/consumer/09953.html
Molds/Fungus and air quality Information
If the
high-profile status of molds seems to be relatively recent, it’s not, molds
have been around forever. According to
the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "Molds can be found almost
anywhere; they grow on virtually any substance when moisture is present.
Outdoors, many good molds live in the soil and play a key role in the
breakdown of leaves, wood and other plant debris." Unfortunately,
some "bad" molds can trigger asthma episodes in a small number of
individuals with an allergic/toxic reaction to mold spores. These reactions
are the cause of the current mold alarm. The
EPA says molds are here to stay. "There is no practical way to eliminate
all molds from our environment; the way to control indoor mold growth
is to control moisture." Most molds are dormant and don’t produce
spores when the moisture content of the air is below around 30%. Keeping your
home as dry as possible and not using humidifiers, can greatly reduce the
active mold content found in indoor air. Mold
tests should be performed when mold growth is visible inside the house, when
there is a strong "mildew/moldy" smell in the house, when signs of
excessive moisture are visible inside the house, when a humidifier is in use
and any time the new
occupants have a history of allergic reactions to molds. Remember,
molds are present almost everywhere all the time. An effective mold test will compare the
indoor air to the normal outdoor air. If both samples contain about the same
amounts of mold spores then it will be difficult to reduce the indoor level
of mold spores. But if the indoor sample contains a high level of mold spores
than the outdoor air, and active mold source probably exist inside the house
and needs to be located and eliminated. The
National Center for Disease Control (CDC) is a good resource for answering
questions about molds and air quality in indoor environments. For more
information go to: http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldguide.html |
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