Check your home or business to make sure you’re not in danger, says Janesville contractor

By Anelia K. Dimitrova
Cedar Falls Times
Saturday, January 24, 2015

A cancer-causing agent may be lurking in your house or place of work and you may not even be aware of it.

That’s because radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas, is odorless and colorless.

But, according to the United States Surgeon General, it is the second-leading cause of lung cancer and the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers.

For 30 years, Lonnie Mallon, president of Mallon Construction Services, Inc. in Janesville, has been at the forefront of fighting radon by helping area residents test and then mitigate it by installing a radon mitigation system and then monitoring it.

“Over 70 percent of the homes in Iowa are in need of mitigation,” Mallon says.

He said some areas, like the northwest part of Waverly, for instance, are prone to high levels of radon because of their geology.

“Where there’s limestone underground, there may be fissures and fracture and your house may be drawing radon from miles,” he says.

A house, he says, acts “like a vacuum cleaner,” and draws the gas in, putting the unsuspecting occupants at risk.

He said that in rural areas, where farmers hook on their drain tiles to their field tiles, there is the danger of highly elevated radon levels.

“That increases the amount of radon being trapped in the house,” he says.

Lonnie urges homeowners, business owners and school districts to test their premises as the radon levels may vary significantly in the same neighborhood.

An effort in the Iowa Legislature to require school districts to test for radon failed last year, but Lonnie and the Iowa Radon Coalition are pushing again for measures at the state level, while the American Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists is working on federal legislation.

On Jan. 8, Gov. Terry Branstad signed a proclamation on the occasion of radon awareness month.

Lonnie recommends that residents start with the $15 test kit, which is easy to administer, and the results need to be read in a lab. If the levels are elevated, call 319-987-3418 or visit mallonconstructionandradon.com to schedule a free estimate.

Most mitigation solutions are in the $1,500 range.

“We can easily install it in one day with minimal mess,” Lonnie says.