Green Builders is a construction company that addresses indoor pollutants seriously. 

We specialize in improving indoor air quality by reducing such pollutants as radon, mold and mildew.

In our projects we always check for radon levels, initiate mitigation when needed or install proper ventilation and ground source radon separation and sealing procedures in new buildings. 

•  Radon gas is naturally occurring and results from the decomposing of unstable uranium to stable lead.  If there is uranium in the soil, then you are going to have radon gas coming out of it.  Because radon is impossible to see and smell, people tend to ignore that it might exist in their home, workplace, school or childcare center.
• Radon seeps into homes from the surrounding soil through cracks and other openings in the foundation.
• One of the most serious heath hazards in our community is completely invisible.  It is odorless, colorless radon gas, the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers.  For smokers, radon and smoking combined can dramatically increase their risk of developing lung cancer.   Indoor radon has been judged to be the most serious environmental carcinogen to which the general public is exposed and which the EPA must address. Based on current exposure and risk estimates, radon exposure in single-family houses may be a causal factor in as many as 20,000 of the total lung cancer fatalities which occur each year.
  
• The alpha radiation emitted by radon is the exact same alpha radiation that is emitted by any other alpha generating radiation source, like plutonium.
  A family whose home has radon levels of 4 pCi/l is exposed to approximately 35 times as much radiation as the NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION allows if they were standing next to the fence of a radioactive waste site. (25 mrem limit, 800 mrem exposure)
  An elementary school student that spends 8 hours per day and 180 days per year in a classroom with 4 pCi/l of radon will receive nearly 10 times as much radiation as the NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION allows at the edge of a nuclear power plant.(25 mrem limit, 200 mrem exposure)
  Most United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lifetime safety standards for carcinogens are established based on a 1 in 100,000 risk of death. Most scientists agree that the risk of death for radon at 4 pCi/l is approximately 1 in 100. At the 4 pCi/l EPA action guideline level radon carries approximately 1000 times the risk of death as any other EPA carcinogen.
  
  

• The EPA estimates that as many as 8 million homes throughout the country have elevated levels of radon. State surveys to date show that 1 out of 5 homes has elevated radon levels.
  
• Statistics show that a home in north-central New Mexico, Taos County included, will have a high probability of  significantly elevated levels of radon gas.  Taos County has been shown to have the highest average levels in the state.
  
• Surveys conducted by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment indicate that 4 out of every 10 Colorado homes have the potential for having radon concentrations in excess of the EPA guideline of 4.0 pCi/L.  Testing by the North Valley Realty, Inc. indicates that approximately 7 out of 10 homes in the Crestone area have elevated radon levels.
• Fortunately, testing for radon is simple and inexpensive.  Self-test kits are often available for under $20.  The Surgeon General recommends that all homes below the third floor be tested for radon.   Making repairs to substantially lower radon gas can be simple as well.  If you are considering a new home, some minor modifications can make your new home radon-resistant for little additional cost.
  

• A curie is the official unit of radioactivity, defined as 3.70 x 10to the 10th power disintegrations per second. In water, radon is measured in picocuries per liter (pCi/L). A picocurie is 0.037 radioactive disintegrations per second. The EPA estimates that 10,000 pCi/L in water translates to about 1 pCi/L in air.
• It is usually when people equate the radon levels in their home to packs of cigarettes per day that they make the decision to mitigate.  For instance, a level of 10 pCi/L is equivalent to one pack of cigarettes per day.

• If your radon test indicates the radon level permeated in the air of your building is in excess of the EPA guideline of 4.0 pCi/L take action to reduce this number!
• Increasing ventilation of fresh air will usually bring the radon level down, but this is not an effective solution because of the energy waste, either losing heat in winter or forcing the air conditioning to work more in summer.
• Since the concentrated source for radon comes from the earth careful and proper sealing of the house floors and walls directly in contact or just above the earth are part of the action steps to mitigate.  The other portion is to establish a controlled ventilation port.  Simplified schematic shown in diagram above. 
  
• Corrective action steps are not very expensive, in new construction radon reduction measures may cost $1200 to $2000.  Contact a professional licensed in both radon measurement and mitigation.  EPA and NEHA provide lists of licensed professionals.
  

Links pertaining to radon mitigation: