Radon Testing in Colorado Springs, CO

Testing is the only way to know. Radon is colorless and odorless, and there is no relationship between how new a house is, how well sealed it is, or what the neighbor's reading was.

Short-term tests run two to seven days with the house kept under closed-building conditions: windows shut, exterior doors used only for normal entry and exit. They are what real estate transactions use because they fit an inspection period. They are also a snapshot, and radon fluctuates with weather, season and how the house is being operated.

Long-term tests run 90 days or more and give a far better picture of what you are actually breathing across a year. If you are testing your own home rather than racing a closing deadline, this is the better measurement.

The EPA action level is 4.0 pCi/L. The World Health Organization uses a lower reference of about 2.7. Plenty of Colorado homeowners mitigate somewhere in the 2 to 4 range, particularly when there is finished basement living space or a bedroom below grade.

Device placement matters more than most people expect. Tests go in the lowest lived-in level, away from exterior walls, drafts, and heat sources, at least 20 inches off the floor. A kit sitting on a basement windowsill will read low and tell you nothing useful.

El Paso County Public Health periodically offers discounted test kits, and CDPHE runs kit programs during January radon action month.