March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Science group urges reassessment of radon

WASHINGTON — Radon may be more hazardous than previously believed, and scientists should conduct a major reassessment of the health threat that the gas poses to the United States population, the National Research Council recommended Tuesday.

Recent radon studies undertaken by American and foreign reseachers indicate that the radioactive gas may constitute a greater risk than currently assumed, the NRC said in a new report. A reassessment would allow NRC specialists to evaluate the studies and perhaps recommend an updated radon risk model.

Radon, an odorless gas produced by the natural decay of radium in the earth, can seep into homes and water systems. It causes 7,000 to 30,000 lung cancer deaths in the United States every year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The agency suggests that home dwellers take action to lower radon in dwellings if it is found to occur at rates exceeding 4 picocuries per liter of air. But about one in 15 American homes has more than that amount — and some have concentrations hundreds of times higher.

The NRC report, entitled “Health Effects of Exposure to Radon: Time for Reassessment,” was commissioned by the EPA as part of a periodic updating the council does of current radon research. The EPA asked the council to consider whether a radon reassessment was necessary and if so to conduct that reassessment.


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