Radon, a radioactive gas, is found in many houses, and presumably all air conditioned buildings across the planet. It is drawn up through cracks in the basement due to a "chimney effect" that produces an updraft in any building. Some homes have been found to be so contaminated that living in one is equivalent to smoking two to three packs of cigarettes per day in terms of increased lung cancer risk. So, with all of these residences emitting radon gas at a rate that is presumably several times greater than the ground itself would, is this contributing to a potentially serious problem, or is the percentage of land covered with buildings just not significant enough to produce a significant change in background radiation?
2007-02-12 06:27:51 · 2 answers · asked by trentrockport 5 in Environment
Radon does not occur in every building in the USA. There are areas where radon occurs in higher concentrations than others.
2007-02-12 12:27:20 · answer #1 · answered by Christmas Light Guy 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
All a building does is contain what seeps up naturally from the ground. They don't CAUSE any of it.
Radon is considerably heavier than air and tends to accumulate in low lying areas.
FAR less than 1% of the earth is covered with buildings. The only issues exist for people living in a building that is accumulating radon.
2007-02-12 14:38:06 · answer #2 · answered by fucose_man 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋