Maine Radon & Environmental Q&A

With basic charcoal test kits, it is fairly easy to cheat a radon test. Follow the instructions provided carefully to avoid inaccurate results.

When using a CRM test, a licensed professional can tell if a CRM has been moved or tampered with when they see the report. 

The EPA has recommended that a licensed professional install a system in your home per state regulations.

No, radon is a colorless and odorless gas.

Yes! While its impossible to mitigate radon entirely down to level 0 pCi/L, our systems move radon gas out of the home and remove radon to a level that is as low as possible.

Overall, radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Radon is responsible for about 21.000 lung cancer deaths every year, and about 2,900 of these deaths occur among people who have never smoked.

We recommend looking for a trusted company with good reviews, and gathering recommendations from family and friends. Be sure the mitigation teams are licensed, full-time employees rather than independent contractors. Here are a few key questions to ask to weed out a headache of a radon mitigation project:

Does the company design its radon mitigation systems based on the structure of the home and the customer's needs? (Do they consider extraction point and fan placement and how that will affect your home and quality of living?)

What kind of warranty do they offer on the levels and radon fan? Do they offer a 10-year warranty?

Are they going to last for a while to provide service and any necessary warranty work?

Be sure to set up the radon test in the lowest livable (unfinished or finished) space of your home, in the middle of the room, at least 2 feet off the floor, and where no drafts will blow over it from a fan, vent, or doorway. Closed home conditions (keeping windows and doors closed as much as possible) is necessary for proper testing.

Charcoal radon test kits may be purchased through us with our certified third-party lab partner, Alpha Energy. The kit comes with clear instructions from Alpha Energy Labs. We'll mail the kit directly to you, and after testing, you'll mail the kit to Alpha Energy for the assessment and they provide you and us with the results. This process usually takes 1-3 weeks. Testing kits can also be found at your local hardware store. 

You may hire us to perform a professional-grade CRM Test. CRM stands for Continuous Radon Monitoring Test and does just that - monitors radon continuously throughout its set period. With this test, there is radon level data recorded every hour of the day, and then an average level is calculated. The test is not much larger than a piece of toast, and we have our licensed professionals set it according to the structure of your home. CRMs run for a minimum of 52 hours, so this process usually takes 3-4 days. We come back to assess the results and print off the report for you to keep. If levels are elevated, we can also discuss mitigation options and costs with you at that time.

The U.S. Office of Surgeon General, E.P.A., and Health Canada all recommend testing your home's radon levels every 2 years at the least. 

The best approach to perform a radon test is a professionally calibrated radon monitor, such as a CRM Test, set by a licensed and trained specialist. These tests show hour-by-hour data, giving a better picture of the radon story happening in the home within just a few days. Reach out to our team for more information if you're interested in scheduling such a test.

Other options for testing include D.I.Y. charcoal radon test kits which you can purchase through us with our third-party lab partner, Alpha Energy. This process usually takes a few weeks and provides you with an average level of radon present in the home. Charcoal kits may also be found at your local hardware store.

Short term radon tests last from 48-96 hours. Long term radon tests can last from 30 days to a year.

Possibly, but not necessarily - there are many variables to consider. Radon levels fluctuate every hour of the day and from one home to the next due to many factors such as the amount of uranium, radium, thorium, and other radioactive elements in the soil and how quickly they are breaking down around the structure. The insulation of the home also has a lot to do with how concentrated the radon is, because a building that breathes will vent some of the radon, whereas a building that is well-insulated traps air (and thusly radon) inside.

The only way to know a structure or home's radon level is to test.

Radon decay particles are radioactive and attach to particles in the air we breathe in our homes. Once breathed in, the radon decay particles transform our lung tissue, and over a long period of time may cause lung cancer. The higher the level and the longer the period of exposure, the greater the risk will be.