Understanding the Cancer Risk From Radon at Lake Tahoe
The results are undeniable that Radon causes cancer. Renny our Radon Robot friend expresses concern while adding color to conversations about the seriousness of Radon in our homes.
The Cancer Risk From Radon is Real
You may ask why we at TahoeHighSierra.com care so much about the topic of Radon and its dangers. Even though we have not had elevated Radon levels in our home, we know friends who have suffered from lung cancer due to Radon exposure in their homes. One friend shared with us that her home had super high Radon levels, and that her oncologist explained that the Radon was the reason for her lung cancer. After surgery, she had a Radon mitigation system installed in her home. We think it is extremely sad that our friend was only educated about the dangers of Radon AFTER suffering from it.
The Second Leading Cause of Lung Cancer
The EPA guide reiterates that the Surgeon General of the United States has warned that Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States today. And, if you smoke and your home has high Radon levels, your risk of lung cancer is especially high, because there is a combo effect of damage from smoke toxins and Radon.
The EPA Risk Assessment for Radon in Indoor Air risk assessment, based on the National Academy of Sciences report on the Health Effects of Exposure to Radon, estimating that there are about 21,000 annual Radon-related lung cancer deaths. Very sad, but also something the EPA Guide doesn't report is the number of lung cancer surgeries that are due to high exposure to Radon - like our friend had.
Updated information from the World Health Organization is that Radon is estimated that Radon is estimated to cause between 3 to 14 percent of all lung cancers in a country. That's a wide spread in statistics, but each cancer sufferer is not just a statistic.
More Information
This page explores the serious risk that Radon poses in homes not only at Lake Tahoe but most everywhere else, too. For more information about Radon and what you can do to mitigate the risk, continue reading our Radon at Tahoe series. These pages are provided to help you live more healthfully at Lake Tahoe and beyond. On each page, you can view more by clicking on one of the navigation links below.
Navigation: More Radon Information
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