How to test your Minneapolis home for radon

Radon is a colorless, odorless gas from uranium and radium decaying in soil. MDH says it builds up indoors, decays into fine radioactive particles, and damages lungs over years. It ties about 21,000 lung-cancer deaths a year to radon. A test is the only way to know a Minneapolis home’s level.

Because your Minneapolis home holds the number, not the block. MDH says you should test. Your home stays closed and heated much of the year, which MDH ties to higher indoor levels. A tidy bungalow and a warehouse loft can share a soil source and still test far apart.

No. Hennepin, where your Minneapolis home sits, is EPA Zone 1, meaning a predicted county average above 4.0 pCi/L. Anoka is Zone 2, a predicted average between 2 and 4. Neither zone is your result. A high reading can show up in either county. The county chips on this page show the metro split.

MDH uses EPA’s 4.0 pCi/L action level and recommends a system at 4 or higher. Between 2 and 4, it says a system can be considered so the level is as low as practical. There is no safe level. The decision still follows MDH’s two-test path on the testing page, not one afternoon on a monitor.

Start with a short-term test, usually 2 to 7 days. A long-term test of at least 90 days is the better yearly average. MDH’s follow-up depends on the first result: long-term if it is about 2 to 7.9 pCi/L, another short-term if it is about 8 or higher. A long-term test should include heating and milder weather.

In the lowest level you regularly use, or the lowest level in a sale. Set it at least 20 inches off the floor, near breathing height. Keep it 1 foot from exterior walls, 3 feet from windows, and away from drafts, kitchens, baths, laundry, fireplaces, and furnaces.

For any test under three months, keep windows and exterior doors shut except when you come and go, and run heating and cooling as you usually do. Winter makes this easier, which is why MDH calls the heating season the better time for your Minneapolis home. Wait if the week is severe or unusually windy, because weather moves your reading.

If that was your first short-term test, MDH’s chart sends a 2 to 7.9 result to a long-term follow-up, not straight to a contractor. Use the long-term result. At 4 or above, mitigate. From 2 to 3.9, consider a system. A consumer monitor may fill the weeks between, but it does not make the call.

Not for the decisions that matter. MDH says consumer digital monitors cost about $100 to $200, are not fully evaluated, are not approved by the national programs, and should not decide a sale or a mitigation. Use one as a diary between approved tests. The Airthings link does not apply ARS10-10OFF. Once your name and shipping are in the cart, enter the code for 10 percent off. We may earn a commission. American Radon Systems does not install in Minneapolis.

Start at MDH’s testing page, which lists local contacts and a discounted kit if you live in Minnesota. Hardware stores and labs sell them too. For a mitigation system, MDH’s brochure says about $1,500 to $3,000, and Hennepin County says about $1,800, roughly $500 to $2,500. Get itemized bids. These are published ranges, not a quote.

Testing and mitigation are not required to close. Disclosure and education are. Since January 1, 2014, before a purchase agreement is signed, the seller discloses known radon results in writing and gives the buyer MDH’s brochure. The parties negotiate who tests and who pays. MDH wants a licensed professional for the sale test. See the real-estate page.

No. Hennepin County says sealing is normal work but, alone, has not been shown to lower radon reliably. MDH and EPA’s Consumer’s Guide describe an active soil-suction system, a pipe and fan venting above the roof, as the method that works. Caulk supports it and does not replace it.

Because Minnesota licenses the work. If you hire someone to measure or mitigate your Minneapolis home, MDH says they need an MDH license. A national certification is not a substitute. Ask for the license number and check MDH’s provider search. The state list is the one that matters for you.

Run an independent short-term test with the system on to confirm the drop, then retest about every two years. Also retest after you finish space, add on, tighten your Minneapolis home, or change the heating system. A system tag belongs on the pipe for installs on or after September 1, 2020. A passive vent with no fan is not an active system.

The Awareness Act is written for a sale, not your lease, but you can still test the unit you live in. If someone else runs the test, MDH’s licensing rule applies to them. Building-wide fans and roof pipes are your landlord’s project. EPA’s tenant guide is the national version. This is not legal advice.

Yes. If your Minneapolis home was built new since 2009, MDH says it should have sealed entry points and a vent pipe, not a fan. A passive stack relies on natural flow. EPA says you should test after you move in. If you are at or above 4, a licensed mitigator can add the fan.

The risks stack. At an average of 4.0 pCi/L, MDH lists lifetime lung-cancer deaths as about 7 in 1,000 if you never smoked, about 62 in 1,000 if you smoke, and about 23 in 1,000 across the population. It calls radon the leading cause of lung cancer if you do not smoke. This is not medical care.