Some Schools Have Radon, State Reports

A state health department survey that languished for a year before being released Tuesday estimates that about 5% of California’s elementary school classrooms have significant concentrations of radon, an odorless and invisible cancer-causing gas.

The state Department of Health Services report, dated May 1998, is based on a sampling of 378 of California’s 5,400 elementary schools. The report estimates that about 252 elementary schools statewide have classrooms with elevated levels of radon, one of many common but hazardous contaminants in schools and other public buildings.

A state scientist who worked on the seven-page statistical study said the document was completed a year ago, but that then-Gov. Pete Wilson’s administration held up its public release. He said officials believed that in the administration’s final months, it could do little to solve the problem.

“The [Wilson] administration foresaw some controversy and decided to wait,” said Jed Waldman, one of the report’s coauthors.

In its later years, the Wilson administration was criticized several times for allegedly watering down studies about other environmental health risks and delaying their release.

The radon report gained new currency with the Davis administration, which released the document, and the Legislature, which is considering legislation to reduce such toxins in schools.

“I’m very concerned about what appears to be a very cavalier and lax attitude by the prior administration,” said Assembly Environmental Safety Committee Chairwoman Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara). “We expect the Davis administration to take this situation seriously.”

A Wilson spokesman could not be reached for comment. A health department spokeswoman said the report was in the process of gaining final approval when Wilson left office.

Though the report’s public release was delayed, the state contacted schools with elevated radon levels, and efforts were made to reduce the risks, authorities said.

“The individual’s risk [from radon] is relatively minimal,” Waldman said. “Radon is not like a mercury spill or a mold contamination,” which must be dealt with immediately.

Rather, Waldman likened radon exposure to occasional contact with secondhand tobacco smoke. Over time, such exposure can lead to illness.

“We want to do what we can to reduce the aggregate exposure,” Waldman said.

Radon, which has been linked to lung cancer, is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that results from the decay of uranium, an element present in nearly all soil. It seeps into buildings through their foundations.

The initial phase of the radon study was begun at the start of Wilson’s tenure in 1991 and 1992. Investigators targeted areas where radon is known to be common. They started with a relatively small sample to gauge the extent of the problem and focused on elementary schools because pupils face the potential of longer exposure to radon than do high school students.

The initial report found that 21 of the 378 schools tested, or 5.6%, had one or more classrooms with radon levels above the point at which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends that steps be taken to reduce exposure. Tests detected radon at lower levels at dozens of other schools.

The report, dated last May, was begun about a year before, in 1997. Its goal was to draw statistical conclusions about the likelihood of radon in schools statewide. It concluded that about 4.7% of California’s elementary schools have elevated levels of radon.

The health department estimates that the cost of testing for radon in every classroom would be about $1.25 million. Remedial work would cost about $250,000 to $500,000, the report says.

Some of the highest radon concentrations were found in Santa Barbara County. There, four of 25 schools tested--or 16%--had radon levels at or above the point at which the EPA urges remedial action.

In an interview Tuesday, Santa Barbara County schools safety officer Vern Sanborn said the county has been testing its schools regularly for several years, and takes necessary steps when radon is found. The relatively simple steps include sealing cracks in floors through which radon seeps, and improving ventilation systems.

The May 1998 report became public after the nonprofit California Public Interest Research Group filed a Public Records Act request. The group announced the report’s release Tuesday, partly to dramatize the need for a bill by Assemblyman Kevin Shelley (D-San Francisco) that combats indoor air contamination and pesticide use at schools.

The Assembly Environmental Safety Committee approved Shelley’s measure (AB 1207) Tuesday. It has several other stops before it becomes law.