Radon

• Radon is a heavy gas that is produced from the breakdown of uranium, which is present in soil, rock & water.

• It tends to collect in basements or other low places in structures, but is dispersed throughout the house via the stack effect and an HVAC sysem.

• It has no color, odor, or taste. • the Surgeon General of the United States has warned that radon is the

second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States today.1

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Epithelial change caused by an alpha particle emission from a radon daughter.

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• Every Pica Curie per liter of radon within a structure produces 7 alpha particle impacts within the average adult’s lungs every second. So 4 pCl/L would cause 28 such impacts per second.

• A 4 pCl/L radon level in a structure is the equivalent of an adult getting 200 chest X rays every year according to the EPA.

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• The EPA postulates that the entire U.S. population suffers 21,000-45,000 deaths a year due to radon.

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• The medical community nationwide only became aware of the possible extent of radon being a problem in 1984. – That year a nuclear plant worker in Pennsylvania

discovered radioactivity on his clothing when exiting the plant which was set off via the radiation detectors at the plant

– The source of the radiation was determined to be radon decay products on his clothing originating from his home.

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• Although some regions of the U.S. have higher levels of radon than others, elevated levels of radon have been found in homes in all 50 states

• Yet the U.S. does not demand that a building owner put in radon mitigating equipment, &

• Unlike other countries the U.S. has no requirements even to test public buildings or schools for radon.

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• Meanwhile inhabitants of buildings where there is a radon problem can be protected against inhalation of damaging radioactive elements if a phytofilter is installed since it contains plants which will absorb radioactive material.

• Plants take in radioactive elements thru their roots from the soil, mistaking them for food, – Where its trapped and encapsulated in root

tissue so harmful alpha and beta particles, that are emitted, can’t harm humans.

– Plus the plant concentrates this harmful material at up to 6,000 times that found in the soil.

– Plants were used to remediate highly radioactive soil at Chernobyl after the nuclear meltdown.

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• Thus the plants in the filter bed of a phytofilter serve a similar purpose as did the plants at Chernobyl, if radioactive elements are trapped within its filter bed,

• Where they draw them out from that filter and encapsulate them within the plants themselves,

• After which the radioactive breakdown process continues within the plant and any harmful alpha or beta particles emitted are prevented from leaving the plant and causing damage to inhabitants of the building.