Right now I am caressing my old Formica countertops. I'm gazing lovingly at their knife nicks and flirting with their not-quite-tight seams. Suddenly their beige boringness is making me swoon.

What's caused this love affair with my un-updated kitchen?  This article in the New York Times.

According to the Times' story, your carefully selected and hand-finished granite countertops might be emitting radon, a colorless and odorless gas that occurs from the deterioration of radioactive elements in the earth.  Why worry about radon?  Because we're told that it is a leading cause of lung cancer. 

You needed something else to worry about, didn't you? Some lurking household horror?  A no-see-em nightmare?

Here in Illinois, the law related to radon changed on January 1, 2008. After that date, our sellers have had to provide disclosure about any knowledge of testing or elevated radon levels in their property. We also make sure in Illinois that our buyers are aware they can have the home they're pursuing tested during the inspection phase.

According to the EPA, homes that show radon in excess of 4 picocuries are targets for remediation. Click here to see the Illinois radon brochure.

My take on it? Don't lose any sleep over it, but have your home tested if you're worried about the possibility of radon. Your peace of mind is worth a couple of hundred bucks, isn't it? If you're selling, disclose everything you know about your tests and if you're buying, carefully consider including a radon test with your whole house and wood-detroying insect inspections.