Does Radon break down and disappear from a building?
Radon does decay (break-down); however, the ability for any given patch of land to produce a radon problem in a building placed on it is effectively constant during your life time. Radon 222 is a radioactive element in the Uranium 238 decay chain. The ‘parent’ element to radon is Radium 236. While radon has a half-life of 3.8 days and thus decays out rather quickly, Radium 226 has a half-life of 1620 years. Any radon in the ground is continually being replenished by the decay of the radium in the soil. With a half life of 1620 years, the amount of radium and the rate of radon production during an individual’s life, or the design life expectancy of your average building, is effectively constant. Radon is constantly generated and available to enter and accumulate in buildings at high concentrations.
