Paul Cochrane | Radon in Schools @IAQMarketer | Uploaded February 2018 | Updated October 2024, 2 hours ago.
Radon is a cancer-causing radioactive gas that has been found in schools, buildings and homes across the globe. It comes from the natural breakdown of uranium and thorium in soil, rock and water.
Radon typically moves up through the ground to the air above and can get into a school or other building through cracks and holes in the foundation. This is especially true when the air pressure inside a building is lower than the pressure in the soil under the foundation. With this difference in pressure, a building acts like a vacuum, drawing radon inside. Radon can even enter a building through well water and get into the air that people breathe.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a nationwide survey of radon levels in schools calculates that nearly one in five has at least one schoolroom with a short-term radon level above the action level of 4 pCi/L (picoCuries per liter) - the level at which EPA recommends that schools take action to reduce the level. In fact, the EPA estimates that more than 70,000 schoolrooms in use today have high short-term radon levels.
The EPA ranks indoor radon among the most serious environmental health problems facing the nation. After smoking, it is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States causing an estimated twenty one thousand (21,000) lung cancer deaths each year.
One cannot see, smell or taste radon, so the only way to know if elevated radon levels are present is to test for it. Fortunately, testing for radon is relatively inexpensive and the EPA recommends testing all schools for it. If test results indicate elevated levels, there are radon reduction systems that can be installed to reduce indoor levels. New schools, homes and buildings can even be constructed with radon-resistant features built right in.
These are just a few things to know about radon in schools. To learn more about this or other building science, indoor air quality, industrial hygiene, environmental, health or safety issues, please visit the websites shown below.
Clark Seif Clark csceng.com
EMSL Analytical, Inc. emsl.com
LA Testing latesting.com
Zimmetry Environmental zimmetry.com
Healthy Indoors Magazine healthyindoors.com
Radon is a cancer-causing radioactive gas that has been found in schools, buildings and homes across the globe. It comes from the natural breakdown of uranium and thorium in soil, rock and water.
Radon typically moves up through the ground to the air above and can get into a school or other building through cracks and holes in the foundation. This is especially true when the air pressure inside a building is lower than the pressure in the soil under the foundation. With this difference in pressure, a building acts like a vacuum, drawing radon inside. Radon can even enter a building through well water and get into the air that people breathe.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a nationwide survey of radon levels in schools calculates that nearly one in five has at least one schoolroom with a short-term radon level above the action level of 4 pCi/L (picoCuries per liter) - the level at which EPA recommends that schools take action to reduce the level. In fact, the EPA estimates that more than 70,000 schoolrooms in use today have high short-term radon levels.
The EPA ranks indoor radon among the most serious environmental health problems facing the nation. After smoking, it is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States causing an estimated twenty one thousand (21,000) lung cancer deaths each year.
One cannot see, smell or taste radon, so the only way to know if elevated radon levels are present is to test for it. Fortunately, testing for radon is relatively inexpensive and the EPA recommends testing all schools for it. If test results indicate elevated levels, there are radon reduction systems that can be installed to reduce indoor levels. New schools, homes and buildings can even be constructed with radon-resistant features built right in.
These are just a few things to know about radon in schools. To learn more about this or other building science, indoor air quality, industrial hygiene, environmental, health or safety issues, please visit the websites shown below.
Clark Seif Clark csceng.com
EMSL Analytical, Inc. emsl.com
LA Testing latesting.com
Zimmetry Environmental zimmetry.com
Healthy Indoors Magazine healthyindoors.com
