Can You Eliminate Radon? What "Radon Elimination" Really Means

Maybe your radon test kit just came back with a high number, or maybe you’re buying a home and the inspection report flagged elevated levels before you’d even heard the word radon. Either way, the instinct is the same. Get rid of it, completely, and for good. 

Long-term exposure to high levels of radon gas is one of the leading causes of lung cancer in the United States, so that instinct isn’t wrong. But radon can’t truly be eliminated. What you can do is mitigate it, and once you understand what that actually means, it’s better news than it sounds.

Can Radon Be Completely Eliminated?

No, radon cannot be eliminated. Radon gas forms naturally as uranium in soil and rock breaks down, and that process doesn’t stop. Radon enters a home continuously through cracks and gaps in the foundation, as well as the natural porosity of concrete itself. Even outdoor air contains small amounts, so a reading of absolute zero isn’t realistic. 

What can change is how much of that radon actually makes it inside your living space. While you can’t eliminate radon, you can reduce indoor radon levels to a small fraction of where they started and well below the EPA’s action level of 4 pCi/L. The EPA also recommends considering mitigation when levels fall between 2 and 4 pCi/L, since no amount of radon exposure is considered entirely risk-free.

The goal isn’t reaching 0.0 pCi/L, but the lowest level reasonably achievable.

How to “Eliminate” Radon

You don’t eliminate the gas. Instead, you mitigate it with a professionally installed radon mitigation system. These systems are designed to reduce radon levels in your home to well below the EPA’s recommended action level, making it the practical equivalent of elimination.

How Mitigation Works

Rather than removing radon from your home, mitigation systems stop radon before it enters. This happens through sub-slab depressurization, which creates negative pressure beneath your foundation and reroutes radon outside before it ever reaches your living space. 

When you get a mitigation system installed, the contractor creates one or more suction points beneath your basement slab, crawl space, or foundation. These points are connected to a PVC vent pipe and a continuously running fan. The fan creates lower pressure beneath your house, drawing radon gas into the pipe instead of letting it seep into your home through cracks, drains, joints, and other openings. The gas is then released above the roofline, where it safely dissipates outdoors. 

Contractors may also seal major foundation openings, but sealing alone isn’t enough to reduce radon levels. Its real purpose is helping the suction system maintain negative pressure more efficiently. 

How Fast Do Radon Levels Drop After Mitigation?

Once a mitigation system is running continuously, radon levels typically start dropping within 24 hours, since the fan creates negative pressure the moment it switches on. That said, a same-day reading from a personal test kit isn’t the same as a certified result. EPA guidelines call for a follow-up radon test after the system has been operating continuously to confirm performance over time.

How Do You Know If Your Radon Levels Are Lower?

After your mitigation system is installed, your home is retested to confirm your radon levels have actually dropped, not just assumed to have. Your system will have a manometer or an audio alarm to indicate whether the fan is operating and maintaining negative pressure, but only a radon test can confirm what’s happening in your air. 

You can also place a radon monitoring device in your home to keep an eye on your levels over the long term and get alerted if anything changes, whether that’s a fan failure or a structural change to your home that affects radon levels down the road. 

Trust The Radon Guys for Professional Mitigation Service

You can't permanently eliminate radon from your soil, but you can absolutely keep it at lower levels in your home, and that's exactly what The Radon Guys do. Our mitigation systems are designed for long-term performance and verified results. Contact us today to get your radon under control for good.