Radon, the Dummies Version

When it comes to your family's health, the Antisocial Network strongly suggests that you avoid getting advice from freelance bloggers and the sort of people who write for content farms. In some unrelated research, we came across a post by serial dumbass Nicole Papagiorgio that borders on dangerous. The site is (as you might have guessed) eHow.com, the topic is "Will Leaving the Window Open Get out the Radon Gas?" (now at SFGate.com), and the answer is... dumbassery.

Radon, if you're unfamiliar with it, is a naturally-occurring gaseous element (a byproduct of the decay of uranium in soil and bedrock) that can seep into buildings through a wall or floor that's in contact with the ground. Unfortunately, radon exposure over the long term can cause lung cancer. Therefore, preventing radon penetration and removing existing radon from a building are critical to long-term health. Nicole gets that much right. Heck, anyone can get that right just by reading radon's Wikipedia page.  

So what's Nicole's answer to this burning question? "Opening windows on the lower levels of your home can increase the ventilation, allowing radon to escape and for fresh air to come in, which reduces radon levels. However, this will not solve the problem of the radon entering your home in the first place, and you likely can't leave the windows open all the time." Duh. Nicole doesn't mention, by the by, that radon is the densest gas -- far "heavier" than air -- which is a major reason why it remains concentrated on lower floors and doesn't circulate through houses unless it gets blown through the HVAC ducts. That's a major factor for why leaving a window open won't help much - but since Papagiorgio's primary reference doesn't mention the density of radon, she skips that crucial fact. Had she mentioned it, that might have helped her explain why,

"House pressurization... fanning air from upstairs to the basement where the radon is, can also help remove excess radon in the home."

And not to quibble, but when Nicole says,

"You can take other preventative measures to remove radon in your home, including sealing up any cracks in the foundation to prevent more radon from entering the home."

It made us wonder how sealing cracks would "remove radon in your home." That's like the review we once read of a Chevrolet Impala claiming that Daytime Running Lights "help protect you in a collision"... we guess Papagiorgio didn't want to spend the time necessary to research radon remediation systems since she'd already reached the minimum required word count to collect her stipend... Nope, Nikki does a typical ten-dollar eHow Dumbass of the Day job: just enough factoids to make the content appear useful, but not enough facts to make it authoritative. 

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