I hope Simon has radon detectors at his office since he's keeping his army of writers and editors in the lower basement there. Feeding them nothing but Magic Spoon in either Rotting Turtle or Beard Blaze oil as well as the daily whippings is bad enough but constantly exposing them to radon is going too far.
Fun fact: they discovered that Radon collects in basements in the 80’s, when someone working at a nuclear power plant set off the radiation detectors coming *into* work. Also since the rock formations that decay into Radon occur geographically, your area either has issues or it doesn’t. It’s not likely your neighbor has Radon collect and you don’t- unless you’ve already mitigated it.
This is a great, and true, story about Stanley Watras. His home had radon levels over 2,500 picocuries per liter (pCi/L), well above the EPA action level of 4.0 pCi/L. This contamination set off the detectors at the nuclear power plant. The EPA used the Watras home to test multiple radon mitigation systems. They were eventually able to get the levels below 4.0 pCi/L, installed an alarm that would sound if levels every crept up to unsafe levels again and the Watras family moved back into their home.
Fun tidbit: An underground shelter was built near a facility that produced nuclear reactors for nuclear submarines. It was built in case there was an accident and staff needed to take refuge. The shelter had to be abandoned because to much Radon poured into it that it would have been safer to remain outside in the event of an accident with the nuclear fuel.
Fun fact. I bought my house and detected Radon in the basement between levels 5-13 pcl, I then installed a fan which fixed the problem, bringing levels to 0.3. However, the lady and her husband that built my house in 1968, both lived very long lives. She lived to 102 and he lived to 90. Neither of them had cancer and passed from natural causes. This is middle Tennessee also. EDIT: Their son is 68 and still lives beside me with no health issues. His room was IN MY BASEMENT for 25 years without a finished floor or sealer of any type when they owned the house. That means radon would have flowed more freely!
At a level of 8 pcl, they estimate about 15 out of 1000 non-smokers would die from lung cancer after a lifetime of exposure to it so it’s not really that shocking. 5 to 13 is above the low limit where action should be taken but nowhere near as high of concentration as some places get. That’s technically a 1.5% chance if something else doesn’t kill you first. Every person is different and may handle it different but it’s unknown until you reach old age if it affects you or not. Some place has a reading of 68 pcls and the older couple that lived there both had lung cancer. We’re in winter right now . My basements been reading 4 to 7 pcl. I’ve spent a lot of time in it as a living space for the past 8 years. I just got the detectors . I’m not happy about it but not panicked. I will likely get a system put in as it is relatively affordable just to get rid of it.
Yeah. I grew up in Elliot Lake, Ontario. We had radon detectors back in the 70s and 80s as a uranium mining town. I didn't even think about it. Now, since the town was re imagined as a retirement village, the defunct mining companies no longer provide detectors and the realtors never bothered mentioning the issue to new home owners. It's been a sh!t-storm of controversy as mining companies, realtors, and the Canadian gov't keep pointing fingers at each other whilst the radon problem doesn't get solved and people develop cancer.
I grew up in a town that mined lots of uranium in the 50s for the US Government during the Cold War. Because nobody knew about radon and how it could appear from decay, a bunch of old and important town buildings and homes were built with foundations using dirt from uranium tailings piles. Surprise surprise, most of those buildings got a radon problem later on. Most of the homes had to have their dirt foundations dug up and replaced with either clean dirt, concrete or stilts. My house is old enough to where it was effected, and the foundation had to have been replaced before my family moved in, as the house has a certificate of radon removal kept on file by the county. Shits wild.
That's nuts bro. I wonder whose bright idea it was to use mine tailings as fill dirt.. I have one home in Taos, NM and another in Albuquerque. Everyone is always warning the public to test your homes once a year for Radon. After this video, I'm gonna take it a bit more seriously. Neither home has a basement, and usually I open the windows at night. But I better be safe than sorry.
When I was in college, I had to sign a waiver for my apartment, stating that radon was used in the gas range and I was acknowledging that it was radioactive and absolved the apartment complex of any liability if I faced any health issies as a result.
Our last house had it bad when we first moved in. Spent about $1000 for a mitigation system that brought it down to minuscule levels. For comparison, apparently a measurement of 2.5 or more is considered unsafe. Our detector registered an average of 3.5, and as high as 16 when it rained. After mitigation was installed it never went over 1.0. Our current house floats between 0.3 and 1.5 thankfully.
I have a friend who owns a home on the plains of Kansas. When sharing pictures of the new home I noted weird flu things and they explained that there was radon leakage in the basement and the flus safely removed radon build up and released it outside. Still weirded out by it.
I spent 2 weeks surveying an old Cornish mine as part of my college mine engineering course in 1996 (King Edward Mine / South Condurrow Mine), part of the mine cordoned off called the Radon Pit, it was too radioactive and full of radon gas to enter. Each cool March morning before we entered the mine they'd turn on the fans, and steamy radon rich air would blow out of the mine shaft, heated by the radioactive granite. They tested for radon on the last day, it was a "little bit" too high.
Rain can sometimes be highly radioactive due to radon, this can happen during thunderstorms. It's called Radon Washout. Heavy rain washes out radon's decay products (Bismuth-214 and Lead-214) suck to dust particles. This radon washout settles on surface, making surfaces sometimes highly radioactive (smooth surface can be wiped and tested, e.g. cars, solar panels, outdoor table tops). Sometimes nuclear workers set off radiation alarms when arriving for work, that's not supposed to happen. They may walk through radioactive puddles in the car park, picking up radon washout on their shoes. Radon washout decays quickly, as the mean half life of Bismuth-214 and Lead-214 is 20 minutes. e.g. Sellafield radiation alarm triggered by rise in 'naturally occurring' radon gas
Acid rain was caused by man made air pollution, from burning sulphur rich coal at power stations and from metal ore smelters. The pollution affected forests, killing trees. The problem was solved by burningless coal and installing scrubbers to power station and ore refinery chimneys that removed sulphur from the smoke (the gasses are bubbled through a slurry of wet crushed limestone, converting the limestone to gypsum, CASO4.2H2O). The by product is gypsum, used in the building industry.
We have trouble with this during cold foggy weather at the Hanford site. Or if someone wears staticky clothes, like polyester. You will lose your pants at the step off pad if you are dumb enough to wear polyester to work.
Now I'm starting to understand my memory why people ran inside when a monsoon downpour came and the water was as lava that we couldn't take a shower for several days afterwards until city gave us the thumbs up.
I live in British Columbia, Canada, and there is a town called Radium Hot Springs. It was named for the radium in the water and is still a well used and much loved destination for people. Not because of the Radium anymore fortunately but it's picturesque views and soothing natural springs. For more information, google it, don't bother me about the place, even I googled it for accuracy before posting this comment.
@@Jimmy_Jones I'll tell ya you aren't funny. Seriously why be an absolute asshole to someone else? It serves no purpose other than to make people not want to comment. And it gets you flagged and band from TH-cam
I grew up about 250 km from Radium and we were frequent visitors to the pools and the national parks. The source of the name wasn't something I felt compelled to check until I was an adult, when also I found out that the levels of radium in the water are very small and not a health hazard.
In Ireland, its pretty much standard to put down radon barriers below the slab of new builds to seal it under the floor if any is found and a small pipe leading out to the footpath to allow for tests to be done to see if there is any radeon in the area
I have a vented radon barrier under my basement with an electronic detector by code. It works, but if it detects radon an alarm sounds. I test it and replace batteries and units when I do my smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. The whole house has a fresh air system that runs through the hvac and the whole house is positive pressure. Modern technology and building codes.
I bought my old house in the country in 2019. Had a radon test and it was through the roof! Lucky for me, the seller had to pay for the radon mitigation system. i have a radon detector in my house now that tracks daily, weekly, and overall averages. I'd never heard of radon before I bought my house. Thanks for making this video so people are more aware!
We did a radon test last year, we had less than the level that the government says is dangerous, the government does the testing and sends the testing kit free if you send in a request for one, so please look into wether your local government covers testing for radon.
The strange thing about radon is that your neighbor can have it, but you don't. We have to get radon inspections here before a home loan. My neighbor, in a townhouse connected to mine, had to get it mitigated. My house was fine.
I've not looked into this yet! First the fires kept us away, then life, now it's getting cold up there. If there is radon in my basement only the spiders and mice need worry.
When I was a kid around 1954, one of the neighbors would give us kids tubes of GlowPan. We would smear this stuff all over our bodies and run around glowing in the dark. I have no idea what this stuff was or was used for. I may not be pretty, but my face hasn't fallen off yet.
That's dope. It must be a lucrative business. It's amazing everything our planet does. It's still burping, gurgling, and crawling. Sometimes throws up too!
Radon percolates throughout the entire crust of the earth. First noticed in the Colorado plateau, then Pennsylvania area, the process/ business of radon mitigation spread throughout the northeast, and spread west. In the midwest, it's very common depending upon the soil type, foundation type, and age of houses in any particular development/ neighborhood/ town.
If you are very adventurous you csn collect radon from a very large amount of thorium powder and condense it in a cold trap. It is extremely strongly radioactive when concentrated like this and they used thin gold needles to hold it in. This was used before the much safer 90Y 125I or 192Ir braciotherapy seeds came into use
"Radipure, our radium infused beauty cream will make you look younger than the average woman ever has before in history." Disclaimer: The average age of Radipure users may be significantly lower than the average age of the modern woman. Some users report feeling older than their grandmothers after long term use, however clinical studies have yet to prove any connection as study participants routinely cease participation after having relocated to smaller accommodations ahead of study completion.
We tested for radon before we went forward with buying our home. It's a VERY important, and frankly very easy test to perform. If you rent, you can still either get a radiation detector of your own and follow the guidelines, or have a professional come in.
400Bq ends up being 24,000 counts per minute, which is VERY high compared to standard background radiation, and to have a significant health increase such as the 2% cancer risk increase you would need to stay in it over the course of many years. It's good practice to check for it and avoid standing in a basement with it for hours and hours if there's no need, but usually it's never enough to be scared about.
Actually, it is in my apartment. Now I keep my windows open whenever I can, and when I can't I pressurize my apartment slightly by closing the windows and forcing air in with a fan. This seems to work as well as the open windows in keeping the concentrations down.
$20 says Simon has one at the never-ending remodeling of his house because we know he loves his carbon monoxide detectors. He probably bought them together in a two-pack.
A naturally occurring somewhat radioactive inert gas. It is the heaviest gas so sinks to the bottom. Might actually have something to do with why pets, who love basements and are several feet shorter than us don't live as long
Minnesota US here, we have tons of it because of granite bedrock. Grand Central Station in New York has a bunch of it because of Uranium in the granite it's built out of, partly why working there gives a worse daily radiation dose than the legal limits for nuclear power plants. (Here in MN we have a special air system built into the foundation to pump it out, along with ensuring the foundation is sealed.) (Also, because of the decay of Radon it turns into a solid, superfine dust of other elements in the areas it leaks over time, becoming a more concentrated inhalation hazard, even in seemingly closed rooms.)
I build houses and we deal with this all the time. In over 10 years I havent seen a house that had a concerning level of radon. Its mostly just a way for home inspectors to make some extra money
Such radioactive materials always made me question Captain Planet. These elements are found in nature and yet a simple exposure to radioactive materials turned the alleged greatest hero on Earth into a weakling.
@@JamesDavy2009 Exactly. Did we ever get any episodes where we got to see Captain Planet at maximum power and no issues with exposure to harmful things?
In school my chemistry/physics teacher made sure to let everyone know about the higher than average amount of radon in Finnish soil. According to my quick google search southern Finland and Czechia are some of the European hotspots
I'm not exactly sure what causes high radon levels in homes here in Central Florida (practically no basements due to a high water table and very flat topography). All I know is that as of 2018 the city of Orlando required all new residential homes to submit a radon plan or else no building permit would be issued. And for anyone curious, a radon plan essentially shows a subterranean channel filled with loose gravel to channel any residue of the heavy gas out and away from the home, presumably deeper into the ground.
At least I can say it’s not in my basement. It’s been tested. At the time, they also told me not to expect any since it usually doesn’t show up in our area in basements that are only half buried in the ground. Take that however you wish.
Wonder why the writer mentioned "New Zealand born English physicist" but not "Polish born, Polish-French physicist" when mentioning Marie Skłodowska-Curie.
As a certified radon measurement technician, I’ve heard a lot of myths about radon. Unless your house is built on stilts, you should test for radon. Self test kits are available for around $40. Professional tests run $150 to $200. Radon mitigation systems can be very effective and are relatively inexpensive ($1000 - $1500). If you have a radon mitigation system, test every two years to confirm its effectiveness. Otherwise, test every five years.
@@JT-lq4yd I recommend having a radon mitigation system installed by a certified radon mitigation technician. Although the components are sold at large home improvement stores, the placement, fan size and power requirements need to meet certain standards to be effective.
@@dyoung4850 The best solution is to not breath in radon gas. You may want to try a large plastic bag secured with cable ties and duct tape, typically available at you local home improvement store. Please read and understand the manufacturer's instructions for best results.
@gregsus4536 You know well what selling radon mitigation system is snake oil. No matter what you do the average person is inhaling 200 mrem of inhaled naturally according radionuclides (DOE). A well ventilated basement is all you need not to exceed that dose hence the box fan joke. If you what to argue this I have one question what school did you go to in order to become "a certified radon mitigation technician".
I rented a house that had its crawl space lined with plastic and had radon detectors. I had heard of this before but had never seen it until then. Landlord said years prior they tested it and had traces of the gas.
There's a reason I think a lot of the early chemists (the ones who weren't quacks) were just _way_ ahead of their time. Their research, when paired alongside a modern physics model, really does explain a lot of the "spooky" shit that the peoples of old could only call magic.
Back in those days the only elements they knew of were the four or five classical elements: earth, water, fire, air and æther. Sure, some chemical elements were known of in those times, but they were not believed to be elements.
Where I used to live in LZ illinois, this was a huge problem. Besides the radon in so many peoples houses, the village water supply contained radium (5-15 pico curies per liter). It took until 2011 when the village finally figured out an ion exchange filtration system to remove the radium from the water. Needless to say that unusual cancer cases used to be ridiculously prevalent in the area. They used to say it was a safe amount, but is there really any safe level of radium to consume? Not really.
fun fact, being berried in a lead coffin isnt actually because he had become radioactive from the exposure to radiation, but rather due to the radiation being given off by the radioactive particles that got into his body, because 1. that radiation could affect nearby life, but mainly 2. when his body breaks down (slowly due to radiation killing many of the microorganisms that would decompose him) it will release those still radioactive particles into the ground, which would be bad as it could easily contaminate nearby food and water sources
I feel like they got radon and radium confused. Radon has 86 protons and is nearly always a gas that doesnt react with anything. Radium has 88 protons and is a solid that was actually used to line water jugs. He seems to be saying that these dangerous devises used radon but they didn't.
I live in New Liskeard, Ontario Canada. Did a long term test puck for like 7 months over winter and was 410 BqM3. Put a sump pit cover with fan and now its like 5 to 20 BqM3 all da time.
Our apartment has a radon extractor venting outside from our living room, the apartment is on a concrete slab. I find it odd having a big PVC 90° elbow joint rising up out of the floor in our living room offset and below our windows. No other apartment in the complex has one just the one my wife, son and I live in. Even stranger still is the power switch for this extractor is outside where anyone can have access to it.
Here in Fort Worth, Texas, very few houses have basements, therefore the risk of Radon gas is minimal to say the least. I had some friends from California who were paranoid about exotic health risks. They got a Radon detector, and found no trace of it.
Moved from Cali to VA and i was curious what this little vent/doughnut looking thing was coming from the basement. We had a radon mitigation system. Thx for the video!
What came to my mind right now: Since helium gets rarer each year due to its volatility and since alpha particles are a helium core... Is there a possibility to collect these alpha decays to form natural helium for our needy technology (for example quantum computers)? Or is this a thing that is already done and I didn't hear the bang?
@@JamesDavy2009 I guess you confuse volatile with reactive. If you put helium in a balloon and let it open, it makes "prrrt" and the helium is gone. Shoot a burning arrow on it and it just makes bang. Do the same with a hydrogen filling and you will have a small explosion. And it takes a heck a lot of energy to even force fluor to the two electrons...with a stability of mere seconds... So yes, volatile and therefore in the uppermost layers of our athmosphere but noble and therefore inert... If you found this explanation helpful, consider a like.
In New Mexico, its actually a big problem. Sometimes the winters get terrible and the summers get extremely hot. I personally love it, but there is a huge importance of keeping homes insulated. I'd imagine thats why Radon collects in alot of houses here. Theres even commercials on TV to remind people to get their houses tested regularly. Allegedly
It was discovered that basements in Grand Junction, Colorado have particularly high levels of radioactivity. It was postulated that the use of sand from uranium mining tailings in mortar and concrete was the prime suspect. I only heard about this after I visited my godparents in Grand Junction in the summer of 1968, and used the spare room and bathroom in their finished basement for the better part of a week.
My first experience with radon was when my parents wanted to move about 20 years ago. A nice house they were looking at apparently had a radon leak in the past and my parents were discussing it. They ended up not buying it, but I asked about radon.
I do not have a basement. I live in a flat. My Detectors are in my gas closet and kitchen. So it does not come up from the floor as you said. My flat is on the 4th floor, so how can it come up in to my flat?
When Simon is talking about a radon test, he is actually showing a picture of a radon mitigation system. Basically a pipe and fan system to pull the radon out of your basement or crawl space. I install these systems.
a lot of houses in my hometown actually had to get radon tests installed in their water supply because apparently no one paid close enough attention or maybe didnt even consider radon when digging the big wells we got most of our water from and like half of them were full of radon to an extent that was deemed unhealthy
Simon... You (and your writers), Tim Hunkin, and my father have taught me enough to lead a fairly useful life. Better then watching TikTok crap like so many peers do. Great vid as usual!
I watch every one of Simon's videos. I also watch TikTok. It doesn't have to be crap. There is an intelligent side of TikTok. You just have to find it & train your algorithm. I have opened TH-cam when not logged in & been astounded at the vapid content fed to its viewers.
I live in a basement unit. There is a radon pumping in my bedroom (which helps filter out radon and pushes it outside) always noisy :( I sleep with a white noise generator
Lol, my dad was the second person in the US trained to deal with Radon. He taught classes at Duke and was on South Carolina news many a time. I've been in the crawl space of many a houses instead of being in school, because dad didn't want to. But bankable talent I guess. Even though 30 years late. I was an early player... Lol. But the science seems real. It does cause cancer.
I have a radon mitigation system. We got the test pre-purchase and it was four times the safe level. Once it becomes apparent the seller is fucked. It then becomes a known defect and they have to disclose their house is not safe for habitation to any potential buyer. So whether they mitigate for you or not ..They will have to deal with it later eventually. Hard to convince buyers to pay 4k to be able to safely exist in their home. Ask your home inspector if he advises a test. It's not common everywhere but in my town it is.
The state of Utah, USA, provides free radon detectors if you need one. Pretty much all basements in northern Utah, and probably all of Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada, have radon.
People did that since it was first discovered. The Curies died through overexposure to the stuff. Spoiler alert: radioactive exposure won't turn you into Spider-Man or the Hulk.
In the oilfield industry, everyone knows that the deeper they drill, the more radioactive the shavings become. This is because, the closer they get to the core, the more radiation increases. This is called NORM or Normally Occurring Radioactive Material. I suppose Radon is the same principle?
I hope Simon has radon detectors at his office since he's keeping his army of writers and editors in the lower basement there. Feeding them nothing but Magic Spoon in either Rotting Turtle or Beard Blaze oil as well as the daily whippings is bad enough but constantly exposing them to radon is going too far.
I yet to look up beard blaze oil, as he not advertise it for a while I don't know if still going
They all aspire one day to become Daven and be allowed out to see the sunlight and host the occasional short video.
#SimonSaysNo
When they write a video that breaks a million views they get a Radon detector, if they write one that breaks five million they get batteries for it.
Can't forget how they only wear Vessi™️ waterproof shoes
Fun fact: they discovered that Radon collects in basements in the 80’s, when someone working at a nuclear power plant set off the radiation detectors coming *into* work.
Also since the rock formations that decay into Radon occur geographically, your area either has issues or it doesn’t. It’s not likely your neighbor has Radon collect and you don’t- unless you’ve already mitigated it.
This is a great, and true, story about Stanley Watras. His home had radon levels over 2,500 picocuries per liter (pCi/L), well above the EPA action level of 4.0 pCi/L. This contamination set off the detectors at the nuclear power plant. The EPA used the Watras home to test multiple radon mitigation systems. They were eventually able to get the levels below 4.0 pCi/L, installed an alarm that would sound if levels every crept up to unsafe levels again and the Watras family moved back into their home.
Just because your neighbor has radon does not necessarily mean that you do. I've seen neighborhoods where it's in one house and not the next.
Most older houses were built with pumps to displace it
Also, it’s most likely not mill tailings.
Neighbors can have a high level while you don’t.
It’s my job to get rid of it
Fun tidbit: An underground shelter was built near a facility that produced nuclear reactors for nuclear submarines. It was built in case there was an accident and staff needed to take refuge. The shelter had to be abandoned because to much Radon poured into it that it would have been safer to remain outside in the event of an accident with the nuclear fuel.
Fun fact. I bought my house and detected Radon in the basement between levels 5-13 pcl, I then installed a fan which fixed the problem, bringing levels to 0.3. However, the lady and her husband that built my house in 1968, both lived very long lives. She lived to 102 and he lived to 90. Neither of them had cancer and passed from natural causes. This is middle Tennessee also.
EDIT: Their son is 68 and still lives beside me with no health issues. His room was IN MY BASEMENT for 25 years without a finished floor or sealer of any type when they owned the house. That means radon would have flowed more freely!
At a level of 8 pcl, they estimate about 15 out of 1000 non-smokers would die from lung cancer after a lifetime of exposure to it so it’s not really that shocking. 5 to 13 is above the low limit where action should be taken but nowhere near as high of concentration as some places get. That’s technically a 1.5% chance if something else doesn’t kill you first. Every person is different and may handle it different but it’s unknown until you reach old age if it affects you or not. Some place has a reading of 68 pcls and the older couple that lived there both had lung cancer.
We’re in winter right now . My basements been reading 4 to 7 pcl. I’ve spent a lot of time in it as a living space for the past 8 years. I just got the detectors . I’m not happy about it but not panicked. I will likely get a system put in as it is relatively affordable just to get rid of it.
Unless you live in a cave for 20 years straight, you don't have to worry about it.
facts dude they over do it lol
Yeah. I grew up in Elliot Lake, Ontario. We had radon detectors back in the 70s and 80s as a uranium mining town. I didn't even think about it. Now, since the town was re imagined as a retirement village, the defunct mining companies no longer provide detectors and the realtors never bothered mentioning the issue to new home owners. It's been a sh!t-storm of controversy as mining companies, realtors, and the Canadian gov't keep pointing fingers at each other whilst the radon problem doesn't get solved and people develop cancer.
I mean, as a retirement village, is the occurence of cancer statistically significantly higher? 😅
@@Nylak-OtterNot really, only the cause of death from cancer is, as they've lived THAT long they're less likely to die from other things.
How many houses we talking? Is this something where people WANT to test for it but can't find qualified people to test and do a mitigation, or..?
@@Nylak-Otter Yes.
the Ontario building code part 9 has a section on what's required to deal with radon gas, that can help a lot of people if they read it~
Marie curie was polish. Great research Simon.
I grew up in a town that mined lots of uranium in the 50s for the US Government during the Cold War. Because nobody knew about radon and how it could appear from decay, a bunch of old and important town buildings and homes were built with foundations using dirt from uranium tailings piles. Surprise surprise, most of those buildings got a radon problem later on. Most of the homes had to have their dirt foundations dug up and replaced with either clean dirt, concrete or stilts. My house is old enough to where it was effected, and the foundation had to have been replaced before my family moved in, as the house has a certificate of radon removal kept on file by the county. Shits wild.
That's nuts bro. I wonder whose bright idea it was to use mine tailings as fill dirt.. I have one home in Taos, NM and another in Albuquerque. Everyone is always warning the public to test your homes once a year for Radon. After this video, I'm gonna take it a bit more seriously. Neither home has a basement, and usually I open the windows at night. But I better be safe than sorry.
West of the Rockies?
Stilts❤
When I was in college, I had to sign a waiver for my apartment, stating that radon was used in the gas range and I was acknowledging that it was radioactive and absolved the apartment complex of any liability if I faced any health issies as a result.
"Not enough radiation in water". I can't believe that would ever be said.
Do get enough Vitamin R?
@@Diamonddavej Just not from malk.
@@Diamonddavejvitamin X and vitamin C
They're great for (tumour) cell growth! 😃👍
Our last house had it bad when we first moved in. Spent about $1000 for a mitigation system that brought it down to minuscule levels. For comparison, apparently a measurement of 2.5 or more is considered unsafe. Our detector registered an average of 3.5, and as high as 16 when it rained. After mitigation was installed it never went over 1.0. Our current house floats between 0.3 and 1.5 thankfully.
I’ve heard of homes tested in Pennsylvania being in the hundreds pCi/L!!!!!!!
Correction: Maria Skłodowska-Curie wasnt french, but polish. Her husband was french tho.
I have a friend who owns a home on the plains of Kansas. When sharing pictures of the new home I noted weird flu things and they explained that there was radon leakage in the basement and the flus safely removed radon build up and released it outside. Still weirded out by it.
Simon described the whole decay chain with a straight face. I'm proud of him.
He accidentally said "palladium" instead of protactinium, but otherwise did a great job with that part.
I spent 2 weeks surveying an old Cornish mine as part of my college mine engineering course in 1996 (King Edward Mine / South Condurrow Mine), part of the mine cordoned off called the Radon Pit, it was too radioactive and full of radon gas to enter. Each cool March morning before we entered the mine they'd turn on the fans, and steamy radon rich air would blow out of the mine shaft, heated by the radioactive granite. They tested for radon on the last day, it was a "little bit" too high.
Rain can sometimes be highly radioactive due to radon, this can happen during thunderstorms. It's called Radon Washout. Heavy rain washes out radon's decay products (Bismuth-214 and Lead-214) suck to dust particles. This radon washout settles on surface, making surfaces sometimes highly radioactive (smooth surface can be wiped and tested, e.g. cars, solar panels, outdoor table tops). Sometimes nuclear workers set off radiation alarms when arriving for work, that's not supposed to happen. They may walk through radioactive puddles in the car park, picking up radon washout on their shoes. Radon washout decays quickly, as the mean half life of Bismuth-214 and Lead-214 is 20 minutes. e.g. Sellafield radiation alarm triggered by rise in 'naturally occurring' radon gas
This made me wonder what acid rain is
Acid rain was caused by man made air pollution, from burning sulphur rich coal at power stations and from metal ore smelters. The pollution affected forests, killing trees. The problem was solved by burningless coal and installing scrubbers to power station and ore refinery chimneys that removed sulphur from the smoke (the gasses are bubbled through a slurry of wet crushed limestone, converting the limestone to gypsum, CASO4.2H2O). The by product is gypsum, used in the building industry.
Can confirm. I have experienced this.
We have trouble with this during cold foggy weather at the Hanford site.
Or if someone wears staticky clothes, like polyester. You will lose your pants at the step off pad if you are dumb enough to wear polyester to work.
Now I'm starting to understand my memory why people ran inside when a monsoon downpour came and the water was as lava that we couldn't take a shower for several days afterwards until city gave us the thumbs up.
Why is Maria Sklodowska Curie's Polish identity always erased
I live in British Columbia, Canada, and there is a town called Radium Hot Springs. It was named for the radium in the water and is still a well used and much loved destination for people. Not because of the Radium anymore fortunately but it's picturesque views and soothing natural springs. For more information, google it, don't bother me about the place, even I googled it for accuracy before posting this comment.
Tell me more about this place...
Tell me. Lol
@@Jimmy_Jones I'll tell ya you aren't funny. Seriously why be an absolute asshole to someone else? It serves no purpose other than to make people not want to comment. And it gets you flagged and band from TH-cam
I grew up about 250 km from Radium and we were frequent visitors to the pools and the national parks. The source of the name wasn't something I felt compelled to check until I was an adult, when also I found out that the levels of radium in the water are very small and not a health hazard.
@@agconsI also checked the radiation levels and it perfectly safe to spend hours in the pools
In Ireland, its pretty much standard to put down radon barriers below the slab of new builds to seal it under the floor if any is found and a small pipe leading out to the footpath to allow for tests to be done to see if there is any radeon in the area
I have a vented radon barrier under my basement with an electronic detector by code. It works, but if it detects radon an alarm sounds. I test it and replace batteries and units when I do my smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. The whole house has a fresh air system that runs through the hvac and the whole house is positive pressure. Modern technology and building codes.
I bought my old house in the country in 2019. Had a radon test and it was through the roof! Lucky for me, the seller had to pay for the radon mitigation system. i have a radon detector in my house now that tracks daily, weekly, and overall averages. I'd never heard of radon before I bought my house. Thanks for making this video so people are more aware!
What device do you have?
I'm buying a house with it and having the seller do the same thing
Technical point: Pa is Protactinum not Palladium, which is Pd and not radioactive.
We did a radon test last year, we had less than the level that the government says is dangerous, the government does the testing and sends the testing kit free if you send in a request for one, so please look into wether your local government covers testing for radon.
The strange thing about radon is that your neighbor can have it, but you don't. We have to get radon inspections here before a home loan. My neighbor, in a townhouse connected to mine, had to get it mitigated. My house was fine.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie was not French. She was Polish.
Thank you. I've a mountain cabin with a fairly tightly sealed basement, I'm going to check in to this.
How did it go?
What did it say?
I've not looked into this yet! First the fires kept us away, then life, now it's getting cold up there. If there is radon in my basement only the spiders and mice need worry.
When I was a kid around 1954, one of the neighbors would give us kids tubes of GlowPan. We would smear this stuff all over our bodies and run around glowing in the dark. I have no idea what this stuff was or was used for. I may not be pretty, but my face hasn't fallen off yet.
❤😂❤
I'd drink Radon and burp it😂
Technically it did solve all their health problems...
My older brother and his dad have a radon detector installing business. It’s fascinating stuff
I presume they live in Denver? Or somewhere else in the rocky mtns near granite.
@@treyreppe4348 No they live in the Northeast US
That's dope. It must be a lucrative business. It's amazing everything our planet does. It's still burping, gurgling, and crawling. Sometimes throws up too!
My brother does mold remediation and installs radon systems in the North Florida area.
Radon percolates throughout the entire crust of the earth. First noticed in the Colorado plateau, then Pennsylvania area, the process/ business of radon mitigation spread throughout the northeast, and spread west.
In the midwest, it's very common depending upon the soil type, foundation type, and age of houses in any particular development/ neighborhood/ town.
If you are very adventurous you csn collect radon from a very large amount of thorium powder and condense it in a cold trap. It is extremely strongly radioactive when concentrated like this and they used thin gold needles to hold it in. This was used before the much safer 90Y 125I or 192Ir braciotherapy seeds came into use
Living im my van gets better and better😂
"Radipure, our radium infused beauty cream will make you look younger than the average woman ever has before in history."
Disclaimer: The average age of Radipure users may be significantly lower than the average age of the modern woman. Some users report feeling older than their grandmothers after long term use, however clinical studies have yet to prove any connection as study participants routinely cease participation after having relocated to smaller accommodations ahead of study completion.
We tested for radon before we went forward with buying our home. It's a VERY important, and frankly very easy test to perform. If you rent, you can still either get a radiation detector of your own and follow the guidelines, or have a professional come in.
It's not that important. Most municipal governments and such don't even require it to be tested for
400Bq ends up being 24,000 counts per minute, which is VERY high compared to standard background radiation, and to have a significant health increase such as the 2% cancer risk increase you would need to stay in it over the course of many years. It's good practice to check for it and avoid standing in a basement with it for hours and hours if there's no need, but usually it's never enough to be scared about.
Actually, it is in my apartment. Now I keep my windows open whenever I can, and when I can't I pressurize my apartment slightly by closing the windows and forcing air in with a fan. This seems to work as well as the open windows in keeping the concentrations down.
"according to health Canada"
I'd take that with a bag of salt 😅
Simon: "What is radon?"
Also Simon: "Let me tell you all about radium instead."
Radon is the gas emitted when radium decays. That said, he did tell us about radon
$20 says Simon has one at the never-ending remodeling of his house because we know he loves his carbon monoxide detectors. He probably bought them together in a two-pack.
A naturally occurring somewhat radioactive inert gas. It is the heaviest gas so sinks to the bottom. Might actually have something to do with why pets, who love basements and are several feet shorter than us don't live as long
Minnesota US here, we have tons of it because of granite bedrock. Grand Central Station in New York has a bunch of it because of Uranium in the granite it's built out of, partly why working there gives a worse daily radiation dose than the legal limits for nuclear power plants. (Here in MN we have a special air system built into the foundation to pump it out, along with ensuring the foundation is sealed.) (Also, because of the decay of Radon it turns into a solid, superfine dust of other elements in the areas it leaks over time, becoming a more concentrated inhalation hazard, even in seemingly closed rooms.)
I build houses and we deal with this all the time. In over 10 years I havent seen a house that had a concerning level of radon. Its mostly just a way for home inspectors to make some extra money
Such radioactive materials always made me question Captain Planet. These elements are found in nature and yet a simple exposure to radioactive materials turned the alleged greatest hero on Earth into a weakling.
Even oil and sewage weakens Cap and yet they're natural.
@@JamesDavy2009 Exactly. Did we ever get any episodes where we got to see Captain Planet at maximum power and no issues with exposure to harmful things?
It’s pretty common where I live due to the coal mines. We have a vent system that sucks the air out
In school my chemistry/physics teacher made sure to let everyone know about the higher than average amount of radon in Finnish soil.
According to my quick google search southern Finland and Czechia are some of the European hotspots
I'm not exactly sure what causes high radon levels in homes here in Central Florida (practically no basements due to a high water table and very flat topography). All I know is that as of 2018 the city of Orlando required all new residential homes to submit a radon plan or else no building permit would be issued.
And for anyone curious, a radon plan essentially shows a subterranean channel filled with loose gravel to channel any residue of the heavy gas out and away from the home, presumably deeper into the ground.
At least I can say it’s not in my basement. It’s been tested. At the time, they also told me not to expect any since it usually doesn’t show up in our area in basements that are only half buried in the ground. Take that however you wish.
Wales and Cornwall in the UK seem to have a highish Radon level (I believe it is the granite rocks that are the source of the problem).
Wonder why the writer mentioned "New Zealand born English physicist" but not "Polish born, Polish-French physicist" when mentioning Marie Skłodowska-Curie.
As a certified radon measurement technician, I’ve heard a lot of myths about radon. Unless your house is built on stilts, you should test for radon. Self test kits are available for around $40. Professional tests run $150 to $200. Radon mitigation systems can be very effective and are relatively inexpensive ($1000 - $1500). If you have a radon mitigation system, test every two years to confirm its effectiveness. Otherwise, test every five years.
Where can I get a radon mitigation system? Are they sold to the general public?
@JT-lq4yd Ya,it's called a box fan.
@@JT-lq4yd I recommend having a radon mitigation system installed by a certified radon mitigation technician. Although the components are sold at large home improvement stores, the placement, fan size and power requirements need to meet certain standards to be effective.
@@dyoung4850 The best solution is to not breath in radon gas. You may want to try a large plastic bag secured with cable ties and duct tape, typically available at you local home improvement store. Please read and understand the manufacturer's instructions for best results.
@gregsus4536 You know well what selling radon mitigation system is snake oil. No matter what you do the average person is inhaling 200 mrem of inhaled naturally according radionuclides (DOE). A well ventilated basement is all you need not to exceed that dose hence the box fan joke. If you what to argue this I have one question what school did you go to in order to become "a certified radon mitigation technician".
I rented a house that had its crawl space lined with plastic and had radon detectors. I had heard of this before but had never seen it until then. Landlord said years prior they tested it and had traces of the gas.
I have a radon remediation fan, it is the least radioactive thing in my house.... my wife collects radioactive pottery
There's a reason I think a lot of the early chemists (the ones who weren't quacks) were just _way_ ahead of their time. Their research, when paired alongside a modern physics model, really does explain a lot of the "spooky" shit that the peoples of old could only call magic.
Yes, even as far back as the roman empire with their greek fire.
Back in those days the only elements they knew of were the four or five classical elements: earth, water, fire, air and æther. Sure, some chemical elements were known of in those times, but they were not believed to be elements.
The difference between magic and science is understanding
Bought my house last summer. Included in the inspection was a radon test. It came back negative. Now I watch Simon’s content in my basement.
Where I used to live in LZ illinois, this was a huge problem. Besides the radon in so many peoples houses, the village water supply contained radium (5-15 pico curies per liter). It took until 2011 when the village finally figured out an ion exchange filtration system to remove the radium from the water. Needless to say that unusual cancer cases used to be ridiculously prevalent in the area. They used to say it was a safe amount, but is there really any safe level of radium to consume? Not really.
fun fact, being berried in a lead coffin isnt actually because he had become radioactive from the exposure to radiation, but rather due to the radiation being given off by the radioactive particles that got into his body, because 1. that radiation could affect nearby life, but mainly 2. when his body breaks down (slowly due to radiation killing many of the microorganisms that would decompose him) it will release those still radioactive particles into the ground, which would be bad as it could easily contaminate nearby food and water sources
My place is immune to radon leaks into the basement - I live on a second-floor apartment. :)
I feel like they got radon and radium confused. Radon has 86 protons and is nearly always a gas that doesnt react with anything. Radium has 88 protons and is a solid that was actually used to line water jugs. He seems to be saying that these dangerous devises used radon but they didn't.
"As a treatment for all sorts of common ailments....." Yes because they only bother you while your alive.
I live in New Liskeard, Ontario Canada. Did a long term test puck for like 7 months over winter and was 410 BqM3. Put a sump pit cover with fan and now its like 5 to 20 BqM3 all da time.
Our apartment has a radon extractor venting outside from our living room, the apartment is on a concrete slab. I find it odd having a big PVC 90° elbow joint rising up out of the floor in our living room offset and below our windows. No other apartment in the complex has one just the one my wife, son and I live in. Even stranger still is the power switch for this extractor is outside where anyone can have access to it.
Here in Fort Worth, Texas, very few houses have basements, therefore the risk of Radon gas is minimal to say the least. I had some friends from California who were paranoid about exotic health risks. They got a Radon detector, and found no trace of it.
Super cool video, very informative 🤘🏼
Moved from Cali to VA and i was curious what this little vent/doughnut looking thing was coming from the basement. We had a radon mitigation system. Thx for the video!
What came to my mind right now:
Since helium gets rarer each year due to its volatility and since alpha particles are a helium core...
Is there a possibility to collect these alpha decays to form natural helium for our needy technology (for example quantum computers)?
Or is this a thing that is already done and I didn't hear the bang?
How is helium volatile if it's a noble gas?
@@JamesDavy2009 I guess you confuse volatile with reactive.
If you put helium in a balloon and let it open, it makes "prrrt" and the helium is gone.
Shoot a burning arrow on it and it just makes bang. Do the same with a hydrogen filling and you will have a small explosion.
And it takes a heck a lot of energy to even force fluor to the two electrons...with a stability of mere seconds...
So yes, volatile and therefore in the uppermost layers of our athmosphere but noble and therefore inert...
If you found this explanation helpful, consider a like.
2:31 Heck no! Decay chains are fascinating.
In New Mexico, its actually a big problem. Sometimes the winters get terrible and the summers get extremely hot. I personally love it, but there is a huge importance of keeping homes insulated. I'd imagine thats why Radon collects in alot of houses here. Theres even commercials on TV to remind people to get their houses tested regularly. Allegedly
Also in Missouri. It was a thing during the 80s to get your house tested, and get vents put in.
North Louisiana also has hot humid summers and cold winters. I remember my school having these radon detectors in the mid 90s
It was discovered that basements in Grand Junction, Colorado have particularly high levels of radioactivity. It was postulated that the use of sand from uranium mining tailings in mortar and concrete was the prime suspect. I only heard about this after I visited my godparents in Grand Junction in the summer of 1968, and used the spare room and bathroom in their finished basement for the better part of a week.
Thank God we're much wiser now and would never dream of putting untested things into our bodies without knowing for sure that they won't be harmful.
Such a glowing presentation
My first experience with radon was when my parents wanted to move about 20 years ago. A nice house they were looking at apparently had a radon leak in the past and my parents were discussing it. They ended up not buying it, but I asked about radon.
I live in a place called GRANITE FALLS. This whole place is on top of Granite…
I do not have a basement. I live in a flat. My Detectors are in my gas closet and kitchen. So it does not come up from the floor as you said. My flat is on the 4th floor, so how can it come up in to my flat?
Lead seems so much more valuable when you consider it's often a retired radioactive material.
When Simon is talking about a radon test, he is actually showing a picture of a radon mitigation system. Basically a pipe and fan system to pull the radon out of your basement or crawl space. I install these systems.
Are those radon mitigation systems available for purchase to the general public? Or only through an installer/contractor?
@@JT-lq4yd you can buy them but you want to make sure to get a good one and install it properly or you're just wasting your money.
@@paulhardy8245 Thanks for the response. Is there a brand that you can recommend? Much appreciated.
@@JT-lq4yd I'm off until Monday, ask me again next week and it'll remind me to look at the name of the system we install
@@paulhardy8245 Paul, I hope you had a great weekend. What is the name of the system you install? Thanks.
Maria Skłodowska-Curie is Polish!
Living in NH, we have a higher radon background radiation than other states. Sometimes trucks from here set off radioactive readers in other states.
a lot of houses in my hometown actually had to get radon tests installed in their water supply because apparently no one paid close enough attention or maybe didnt even consider radon when digging the big wells we got most of our water from and like half of them were full of radon to an extent that was deemed unhealthy
That'd explain why lots of people I know be losing their hair like it's cool...
@@TheKultMan "All those bald children are arousing suspicion." -Mr. Burns
Maria skłodowska was Polish
You could use dps and dpm instead of becquerel. Since limits are published in dpm.
It’s a series of graphics cards made by ATI/AMD
Close, that is Radeon, this video is about Radon
Simon... You (and your writers), Tim Hunkin, and my father have taught me enough to lead a fairly useful life. Better then watching TikTok crap like so many peers do.
Great vid as usual!
I watch every one of Simon's videos. I also watch TikTok. It doesn't have to be crap. There is an intelligent side of TikTok. You just have to find it & train your algorithm. I have opened TH-cam when not logged in & been astounded at the vapid content fed to its viewers.
@angeladansie4378 I’d rather not give the CCP access to all of my personal information, but that’s just me.
I bid on a house in the mountains. One of the reasons I didn't buy was because the radon levels were in the dangerous zone.
My parents place in Cornwall has issues with that, they have vents around the outside of their home and detectors.
I live in a basement unit. There is a radon pumping in my bedroom (which helps filter out radon and pushes it outside) always noisy :( I sleep with a white noise generator
Lol, my dad was the second person in the US trained to deal with Radon.
He taught classes at Duke and was on South Carolina news many a time.
I've been in the crawl space of many a houses instead of being in school, because dad didn't want to.
But bankable talent I guess. Even though 30 years late. I was an early player... Lol.
But the science seems real. It does cause cancer.
I have worked on houses that had radon ventilation systems for houses that were built on top of granite.
Where can I find a definitive list of Simon’s channels?
Radon is element 86, not 96
0:37 with 86 on the screen 🙂 You have to love it when Simon reads stuff too fast.
I remember the old PSAs in the 80s about Radon gas
I have a radon mitigation system. We got the test pre-purchase and it was four times the safe level. Once it becomes apparent the seller is fucked. It then becomes a known defect and they have to disclose their house is not safe for habitation to any potential buyer. So whether they mitigate for you or not ..They will have to deal with it later eventually. Hard to convince buyers to pay 4k to be able to safely exist in their home. Ask your home inspector if he advises a test. It's not common everywhere but in my town it is.
what was first radioactive substance since beginning of universe?
I did radon mitigation for a while. Can just leave the window open tho
The state of Utah, USA, provides free radon detectors if you need one. Pretty much all basements in northern Utah, and probably all of Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada, have radon.
Radon sometimes lingers in the basements of the Okanagan Valley in B.C. Canada
Yea I have I have a 90s video card here also branded Radon by ATI 😂
Great vid
Radon to Lead, never knew
Marie Curie was Polish.
"Do you know what Radon is? Uh, no. Well, goodnight"
1:13 Link please?
Should of probably got email of my previous comment, they clearly didn't want me share link to their video about does it glow bright green
I feel a @BrainBlaze episode coming, time humans purposely Irradiated themselves… I’m here for it!
People did that since it was first discovered. The Curies died through overexposure to the stuff. Spoiler alert: radioactive exposure won't turn you into Spider-Man or the Hulk.
In the oilfield industry, everyone knows that the deeper they drill, the more radioactive the shavings become. This is because, the closer they get to the core, the more radiation increases. This is called NORM or Normally Occurring Radioactive Material. I suppose Radon is the same principle?