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Comment by elric | Hacker News Reader

It always struck me as odd that radon in basements seems to be a big thing in North America, but is relatively un(der)reported of elsewhere. Is this just a matter of the US being too cautious? Is there perhaps more radon in basements over there? Or does the rest of the world not give a shit for some reason?

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It depends on which type of ground you build on. The Nordics are mostly granite and have a relatively big problem with radon gas, or at least enough that people in general care about it. Continental Europe is dominated by limestome which hasn't got the same problem.

Makes sense, and would explain why it's pretty much unheard of in my neck of the woods.

I expect that Americans spend more time in their basements than people in most other countries (other than Canada). The kind of furnished basement that teenagers hang out in from That 70's Show isn't common elsewhere.

Wrong and wrong. Not all parts of the world have issues with radon, depends on what’s in the ground underneath. Absolutely those countries do care and people are generally aware of it especially in the building process.

Radon in houses is certainly a thing in Ireland where I grew up, it's somewhat rare though. I don't know anybody who has a basement.

Same in Denmark where I'm living now, I know nobody whose house has a basement.

i think that maybe peter schmeichel might have one?

Many houses in Denmark have basements. Radon depends on geology, and occurs in relatively high concentrations on the rocky island of Bornholm: https://www.sst.dk/da/Borger/Straaling_-miljoe-og-klima/Om-i...

I Denmark, Radon accounts for about 9% of lung cancer cases: https://www.sst.dk/da/Borger/Straaling_-miljoe-og-klima/Om-i...

I don't know about "rest of the world", but I think in western Europe it is simply just another thing that gets inspected uneventfully, like making sure there is a fuse box.

It's definitely a thing in parts of the UK - it's to do with what the ground is made of.

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