There are higher levels of Radon in northern Illinois than in southern Illinois. Patrick Daniels with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency says that they have tested over half a million homes in the state and says about 190,000 of those homes were above the normal rate.
Daniels says in LaSalle County, 2,900 homes were tested and 1,300 of those homes were above the action level. He says this about one out of two homes.
He says at four picocuries , a measurement of the rate that Radon decays, is when homeowners should take action to get the gas out of their home. Daniels says in LaSalle County, the average rate for testing was 7.1 picouries.
He says a pipe is installed in the basement to suck the Radon out and force it into the air where it evaporates. He says every home should be tested for Radon because it can depends where people live.