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Stanley Watras was employed as a construction engineer at Limerick nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania when he set off the radiation alarms on his way to work in 1984. Other employees searched his house and found that he had radon leaking into his basement that was unrelated to the nuclear power plant. It was calculated that about 100,000 Bq/m³ (2,700 pCi/L) was contaminating his house and the risk of living there was equal to that of smoking 135 packs of cigarettes a day (see Health effects of radon). This was the first time evidence of the danger of radon exposure was found. After this, standards were set and most homeowners began concerning themselves with radon levels. It is a poison and a carcinogen.
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