I recently did a radon test on a home and the result was 33. The clients plumber suggested a retest using their meter for free and his result came up with a similar number to mine.
The plumber then said he had a friend who had a very high radon result like this which was caused by a natural gas leak too small to smell but large enough to cause the high radon reading and after fixing the friends gas leak a retest only showed a small radon result.
They then tested the home for gas leaks and found two small gas leaks – one on the water heater and one on the furnace.
They then fixed the gas leaks and now the customer called me to do another radon test. I use the Sun Nuclear 1027 continuos monitor. Correct me if I am wrong but doesn’t this monitor test for radio-active waves, which Natural Gas would not have?
Anyway, I will test his home again and collect another $125.00
Completed a second radon test today on the above home. After the client spent several hundred dollars with his plumber, test came back still high. (24)
Advised him to find a State Certified and/or Qualified Radon Mitigation Contractor.
Natural gas can certainly contain radon, which will decay and emit alpha particles just like soil source radon. Uranium and thorium are present in certain soil and rock types, including those overlaying natural gas deposits… and gas companies can do little if anything to scrub out the resulting radon gas.