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Everyone is aware by now that a home with high radon levels is a serious health threat. Prolonged exposure to high concentrations of radon is the second cause of lung cancer, after smoking. What are the implications of this for the average homeowner?

- Home Inspection:

If you are in the process of purchasing a new home, make sure that your new home's inspection includes testing for high levels of radon gas before you purchase it. Any radon problem detected at this point will be the responsibility of the seller, who will have to fix it, not you. Discovering high levels of radon may delay your move-in date, but radon remediation, or mitigation, is relatively straightforward and does not in itself warrant calling off the deal.

Professional home inspectors commonly use a Continuous Radon Monitor (CRM) test for radon. Test results are rapid and the readings provided accurately reflect radon levels in the home at the time of testing.

While this initial inspection is sufficient prior to the purchase of a house, it is not enough to protect your family against the dangers of radon exposure once you move into your new home. The reason for this is that radon levels can vary over time. Low or acceptable radon concentrations could rise over a period of several months (the EPA recommends that you check radon concentrations in your home every two years at least). It is best to perform a long-term radon test in addition to the short-term CRM test.

Home radon tests are simple to conduct (following the package instructions to the letter is all you need to do). Still, it's very important to select the right kind of test kit, the correct number detectors and to place the detectors in the correct location in your house. This may be somewhat confusing as the kind of radon home test you need will depend, to a large extent, on the individual design and set up of your house. Do not be afraid to ask a lot of questions when you buy your home radon test.

To ensure the safety of your family from radon poisoning, you should test the radon levels in your home over time - and wherever radon gas could infiltrate into the home - not just in one isolated area, like the basement. If radon testing reveals radon concentrations that are above the EPA action level (4 Pico curies per liter) in any part of the home, you should implement radon mitigation measures.

Radon-resistant Construction:

Builders are increasingly using 'radon-resistant' building techniques. The principal feature of

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