EPA UPDATE DOUBLES RADON RISK FACTORS

At the American Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists ( AARST ) International Radon Symposium held in Nashville, Tennessee on October 5 – 8, 2003 the new EPA Indoor Environments Division Director Mr. Tom Kelly announced a revision of the EPS risk from radon. The revised estimated risk is approximately double previous estimates. Eight thousand to forty five thousand deaths per year are the new figures. Everyone should test their homes for one of the leading causes of lung cancer in the country: indoor radon gas. In some areas of the country, as many as one out of two homes has high levels of radon. Radon levels can soar during the colder months when residents keep windows and doors closed and spend more time indoors. "Twenty-two thousand people die from lung cancer each year in the United States from exposure to indoor radon". "Yet Americans could help prevent these deaths and protect their families by testing their homes for radon as soon as possible." Christine Todd Whitman, Former EPA Administrator EPA Releases New Video on Radon in Real Estate Breathing Easy: What Home Buyers and Sellers Should Know About Radon EPA has added a new visual tool to its radon toolbox. The video satisfies a long-standing need for a short visual educational tool on how to best include radon in residential real estate transactions. With a bit of light humor, the video covers the basics, including radon science, the lung cancer risk, home inspection, building a new home radon-resistant, testing and fixing a home, disclosure, state radon offices, hotline and web resources, and key radon numbers, e.g., EPA's action level and the U.S. indoor and outdoor averages. The primary audiences are home buyers and sellers, and real estate sales agents and brokers. Home inspectors, mortgage lenders, other real estate practitioners, and radon services providers will also find the video helpful. Single copies of the video are free from IAQ-Info (1-800-438-4318) in VHS format. Ask for [EPA 402-V-02-003 (TRT 13.10)]; copies in CD-ROM and DVD formats will also be available soon.