EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Radon is a naturally-occurring radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer. Radon gas is inert, colorless and odorless. Radon is naturally in the atmosphere in trace amounts. Outdoors, radon disperses rapidly and, generally, is not a health issue.

Detailed explanation-2: -Radon is an odorless, invisible, radioactive gas naturally released from rocks, soil, and water. Radon can get into homes and buildings through small cracks or holes and build up in the air. Over time, breathing in high levels of radon can cause lung cancer.

Detailed explanation-3: -Learn about radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas found in soils, rock, and water throughout the U.S.

Detailed explanation-4: -Radioactive decay of uranium in minerals, especially granite, generates radon gas that can diffuse through soil and rock and enter buildings through basements (radon has a higher density than air) and through water supplies derived from wells (radon has a significant solubility in water).

Detailed explanation-5: -Radon is produced naturally from the decay of the isotope radium-226, which is found in rocks. It was first discovered as a radioactive gas produced from radium as it decayed. There is a detectable amount in the Earth’s atmosphere.