Stephen nous apporta ses lumieres en ce 2008/01/12 16:32:
> On Sat, 12 Jan 2008 13:44:22 -0500, Alain <ele### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> 
>> Radon is radioactive. But, as it's a "noble" gas, it's non-reactive and thus 
>> can't be toxic. To be toxic, a substance need to be able to easily react with 
>> other substances.
>> As radon is radioactive, it cause some ionisation in other substances. That 
>> ionisation can denaturate some substances. But radon's radioactivity is very 
>> weak. You need a lot of it over several years for it to become a problem. Any 
>> basement where you go more than 4 times a year will have to much air movement to 
>> be able to get a critical radon concentration. Also, the floor need to be 
>> permeable, while the walls and ceiling need to be prety air tight.
> 
> Is that a personal opinion, Alain? I take it you don't live in a granite area or
> worry about lung cancer?
> And my definition of toxic has nothing to do with reacting with other substances
> but with how much harm it can cause. So water can be toxic if enough is ingested
> and we all know that oxygen can be toxic. 
>  
> 
> Regards
> 	Stephen
If radon is a concern for you, you must make sure that the basement is properly 
ventilated.
In my area, the ground is a base of blue granite, covered by a layer of clay 
going from a few cm to several meters thick. Many house basements go trough that 
clay and reatch the granite.
Anyway, secondary cigaret smoke and city polution are greater lung cancer risks, 
and by a very large magin, than the radon you can find in an under ventilated 
basement. Also, several other common products can contribute: formaldeide, 
bleatch, many disinfectants and cleaning products, food aditives,...
If the basement don't reatch the underlying granite, is reasonaby well 
constructed, and the ground is relatively porous, that radon will mostly seep 
out of the ground outside the house. Add a pair of small basement windows and a 
stareway to the basement and radon won't accumulate.

-- 
Alain
-------------------------------------------------
You know you've been raytracing too long when you resign the fact that printing 
uses CMYK instead of RGB to one of those tests God gave to Job; otherwise life 
would be too painful to go on.
     -- Taps a.k.a. Tapio Vocadlo

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