Radon Indoor Air pollution - Term Paper Example

Is it really possible to develop a fatal disease, such as cancer, just by inhaling air indoors? It is sad to say, but this is in fact true. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), low indoor air quality within buildings and houses is especially dangerous to an individual’s health, with radon being determined as the leading pollutant that can cause lung cancer (Neira, et al., 2009, p. ix). Although the radioactive nature of radon and its harmful effects to people have drawn attention since 1979 and it has been formally labeled as a human carcinogen in 1988, “a unified approach to controlling radon exposures” to manage health risks was enacted just in the year 1993 (Neira, et al., 2009, p. ix).

Radon research has taken thirteen years to be quantified and be made official for the WHO to establish the International Radon Project, which, based on solid and indisputable data, aims to create and increase public and political awareness against the destructive effects of continued radon exposure indoors (Neira, et al., 2009, p. ix). This year, the International Radon Project has gained much ground in raising awareness of the seriousness of the issue and radon testing has slowly evolved into a necessity for many American businesses and homeowners.

Indeed, creating and maintaining high indoor air quality has become a requirement for many states in the U.S. But what really is radon; how is it radioactive; and how can it cause cancer? These are just some of the questions that this paper will answer in the hopes of providing an understandable and clear discussion of radon indoor air pollution. Radon (222Rn) is formed when the element radium (226Ra) decays (Otton, Gundersen and Schumann, 1995). Radium is produced when uranium (238U), a naturally radioactive element, decomposes (Otton, Gundersen and Schumann, 1995; Neira, et al., 2009, p. 1).

Both radium and