EPA Chief Urges Radon Testing of All Schools
The Environmental Protection Agency urged school officials today to test all school buildings for radon, saying preliminary tests from 16 states show many schools have unhealthy levels of the cancer-causing gas.
EPA Administrator William K. Reilly said that although the test results are only preliminary, the levels found are high enough to warrant nationwide testing of school buildings.
“It is important that school administrators nationwide understand both the seriousness of the risk and the relative simplicity of testing and fixing the problem,” Reilly said.
“Based on measurements taken in 3,000 schoolrooms in 16 states, it appears that elevated levels of radon gas can be found in schools throughout the United States,” Reilly said. He called indoor radon “one of the major environmental health threats facing Americans.”
Radon is a colorless and odorless gas that is produced naturally by the decay of radium-226 in soil and rocks.
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