![]() ![]() Numbers at the side of the spectrum are wavelengths. Characteristics Emission spectrum of radon, photographed by Ernest Rutherford in 1908. Significant uncertainties exist for the health effects of low-dose exposures. While radon is the second most frequent cause of lung cancer, it is the number one cause among non-smokers, according to EPA policy-oriented estimates. About 2,900 of these deaths occur among people who have never smoked. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), radon is the second most frequent cause of lung cancer, after cigarette smoking, causing 21,000 lung cancer deaths per year in the United States. Radon is a contaminant that affects indoor air quality worldwide. Įpidemiological studies have shown a clear link between breathing high concentrations of radon and incidence of lung cancer. It is possible to test for radon in buildings, and to use techniques such as sub-slab depressurization for mitigation. Climate change may cause radon previously trapped underground to be released as permafrost thaws, particularly in areas like the Arctic, Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia. Radon can also occur in some ground water like spring waters and hot springs. ![]() A common source is uranium-containing minerals in the ground, and therefore it accumulates in subterranean areas such as basements. Radon and its daughters are, taken together, often the single largest contributor to an individual's background radiation dose, but due to local differences in geology, the level of exposure to radon gas differs from place to place. This increases the risk of harm, as the radon daughters can cause damage to lung tissue. Although radon is a noble gas and does not adhere to lung tissue, meaning it is often exhaled before decaying, the radon daughters attached to dust are more likely to stick to the lungs. These decay products, often existing as single atoms or ions, can attach themselves to airborne dust particles. However, the primary danger comes not from radon itself, but from its decay products, known as radon daughters. Under standard conditions, radon is gaseous and can be easily inhaled, posing a health hazard. Radon-220 occurs in minute quantities as an intermediate step in the decay chain of thorium-232, also known as the thorium series, which eventually decays into lead-208, which is stable. ![]() Radon-222 occurs in significant quantities as a step in the normal radioactive decay chain of uranium-238, also known as the uranium series, which slowly decays into a variety of radioactive nuclides and eventually decays into lead-206, which is stable. The decay of radon produces many other short-lived nuclides, known as "radon daughters", ending at stable isotopes of lead. Radon will be present on Earth for several billion more years, despite its half-life being a mere 3.8 days, because it is constantly being produced as a step in the decay chain of uranium-238, and that of thorium-232, each of which is an extremely abundant radioactive nuclide with a half-life of several billion years. Radon's most stable isotope, radon-222, has a half-life of only 3.8 days, making radon one of the rarest elements. Radon isotopes are the immediate decay products of radium isotopes. Of the three naturally occurring radon isotopes, only radon-222 has a sufficiently long half-life (3.825 days) for it to be released from the soil and rock, where it is generated. It is a radioactive noble gas and is colorless and odorless. Radon is a chemical element it has symbol Rn and atomic number 86. ![]()
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