If you’ve ever wondered, “Who discovered radon?” or “When did we realize it was dangerous?” there is the fascinating history of how this element came to light.
Today, we know radon as a silent, invisible health risk. It’s a gas that requires testing and professional mitigation to keep our homes safer, and fortunately, we have the tools and technologies to detect dangerous levels and mitigate them before health issues escalate.
But long before it was a line item on a home inspection report, radon was at the center of a scientific revolution. The story of its discovery involves Nobel Prize winners, accidental findings, and a “radioactive” house that changed public health policy forever.
The Scientific Race: Who Discovered Radon?
The discovery of radon wasn’t a single “Eureka!” moment but rather a series of findings by some of the most famous names in science. At the turn of the 20th century, physicists were obsessed with the new field of radioactivity.
1899: Ernest Rutherford & Robert Owens
While working with the element thorium at McGill University in Montreal, Ernest Rutherford and his colleague Robert Owens noticed something strange. They observed that the radioactivity of thorium seemed to vary depending on the airflow in the room. They concluded that thorium was giving off a gas, which they called “emanation.” This gas was actually Radon-220 (also known as thoron).
1900: Friedrich Ernst Dorn
Most historians credit the discovery of the most stable form of the gas, Radon-222, to German physicist Friedrich Ernst Dorn. In 1900, while studying radium, Dorn noticed that the element was releasing a gas that accumulated inside his experimental ampoules. He called this substance “radium emanation.”
1908: William Ramsay & Robert Whytlaw-Gray
It wasn’t until 1908 that researchers Sir William Ramsay and Robert Whytlaw-Gray actually isolated the gas. They were able to determine its density and realized it was the heaviest gas known to man. They initially named it “niton,” from the Latin word nitens, meaning “shining.” It wasn’t officially renamed radon until 1923.
Did We Always Know Radon Was Dangerous? Radon as a “Cure”
No – in fact, many thought it was medically beneficial. In the early 1900s, the public was captivated by radioactivity. Instead of fearing it, people embraced it. Because radium was expensive and touted as a miracle for treating cancer, its byproduct (i.e. radon gas) became the “poor man’s radium.”
For decades, entrepreneurs sold “radon water” and advertised radon-infused spas. People would travel to mines in Montana and Europe to sit in “radon rooms,” believing the gas would cure everything from arthritis to high blood pressure. It took decades of observation to realize that the “curative” gas was actually a silent carcinogen.
When Did We Realize Radon Gas Was Harmful?
While scientists had known for a while that radon caused lung cancer in uranium miners, nobody realized it was a threat in ordinary homes until Stanley Watras. In 1984, Watras was an engineer at the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant in Pennsylvania. One morning, as he walked into the plant, he set off the radiation detectors. An impossibility because the plant was still under construction and hadn’t even received its nuclear fuel yet.
Investigators discovered that Watras wasn’t picking up radiation from work… He was bringing it from home. His house was built on a massive uranium deposit, and the radon levels in his basement were 2,700 pCi/L – nearly 700 times the EPA’s current action level!
It was estimated that living in his house for one day was the equivalent of smoking several hundred packs of cigarettes.
The Watras story hit the national news and changed everything. It prompted the EPA to launch a national study, leading to the creation of the 4.0 pCi/L safety standard and the modern radon mitigation industry we have today.
Why Is Knowing the History of Radon Important?
Understanding the history of radon reminds us that this isn’t a “man-made” pollutant or a chemical spill… It’s a natural part of the Earth’s geology. It has been seeping from the ground for billions of years – we just didn’t have the tools to detect it until the last century.
The good news is that we no longer live in the era of “radon spas.” We have the technology to detect it easily and the engineering to remove it from our homes effectively.
Radon may be invisible to the senses, but it shouldn’t be ignored. While you can’t see, smell, or taste this silent gas, you have the power to control it and protect your home’s air quality. As your local mitigation experts, we’re here to turn that uncertainty into peace of mind by providing professional, reliable solutions tailored to your space.
Don’t leave your family’s safety to chance. Take the first step toward a healthier home and contact Murphy Radon today for a consultation.