Certified Home Inspections of Valparaiso has experienced a substantial increase of requests for residential Radon testing in northwest Indiana this year. Many homes in Porter, Lake, and Laporte counties are measuring dangerously high, above the EPA’s standard safety level of 4.0 piC/l, when tested for Radon using a continuous monitor. These high test results are alarming home-owners and raising awareness of the health risks involved, causing an increase in Radon testing and mitigation system installation requests in each city.
According to the EPA, Radon levels in Laporte and Porter counties are high and average 7.8 and 6.0piC/l respectively. One out of every five homes will test high in Porter county and on of three in Laporte county, as illustrated in the pie charts on the IN.gov website. However, the levels of Radon vary from city to city, sub-division to sub-division, and house to house depending on many conditions. The amount of Uranium gas present in the soil, soil permeability, and foundation conditions, are three of the most important factors that contribute to the percentage and varying Radon levels among homes in both counties.
Home-owners or prospective buyers can completely eliminate the fear of breathing Radon decay products, which cause lung cancer, and exposing others to an unsafe living environment by simply hiring an Indiana state licensed Radon tester to measure the level of Radon in the home. Upon completion of the test a Radon professional will offer a recommendation to mitigate if levels are above 4.0 piC/l. Certified Home Inspections is a member of the National Radon Proficiency Program (NRPP) and are on the Indiana state list of approved primary Radon testers. Certified Home Inspections recently upgraded our Radon testing equipment to meet this demand and increased need for accurate Radon measuring/testing in northwest Indiana. Our inspectors use the Sun Nuclear 1028 continuous Radon monitor for testing homes, which provides an on-site printout of results, is tamper-proof, and equipped with motion sensors to provide our client reliable and accurate results every time.
Attached below are links to a list of licensed Radon testers in the area, maps which display general Radon levels, and a Citizens guide to Radon, all published by the Environment Protection Agency.