County Gets $8,000 for Radon Program
The Ventura County Environmental Health Division announced Friday it has been awarded an $8,000 grant, which it will use to continue its project to educate primarily east county residents about the radioactive and potentially dangerous gas, radon.
According to a report issued by the agency, this year’s radon project will target high-risk populations. The money from the National Assn. of Counties will be used to develop radon awareness lessons for east county high schools, and distribute radon test kits.
Radon is a radioactive gas produced by the decay of the element radium--which occurs naturally in soil and rock--and increases the risk for lung cancer in humans.
Although radon dissipates quickly in open air, the gas can reach unsafe levels inside homes.
In 1991, the State Department of Health Services found that of 800 surveyed houses in Ventura County, 23% exceeded EPA standards for radon contamination.
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