Most Indiana schools ignore federal radon testing recommendations because it's not required

Radon gas is leading cause of lung cancer

INDIANAPOLIS—Call 6 Investigates has uncovered that most Indiana schools do not test for radon gas, a carcinogen known to cause lung cancer, despite federal recommendations that all schools test at least once every five years.

Radon is a radioactive, naturally occurring gas that seeps into buildings from the surrounding soil.

It’s the number one cause of lung cancer among non-smokers, killing an estimated 600 people a year in Indiana and roughly 20,000 people across the country.

Central Indiana students and teachers spend a lot of their time in schools, and that’s why the EPA recommends schools test for radon but Call 6 Investigates found most school districts aren’t doing it.

A RADON SURVIVOR: “IT’S LIKE A DIRTY BOMB”

Annie Cacciato is a wife, a mother, and a survivor.

“I have stage four lung cancer,” said Cacciato.

Diagnosed in 2013, Cacciato had never smoked.

Although there’s no way to prove what caused her lung cancer, radon is the prime suspect.

Following her diagnosis, Cacciato learned her workplace and high school contained toxic levels of radon.

“I was in shock,” said Cacciato.

EPA’s nationwide survey of radon levels in schools estimates that nearly one in five has at least one schoolroom with a 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.
Cacciato said her workplace tested at 25 pCi/L and her school tested at 24 pCi/L and “There are thousands of children in schools right now breathing in air, day after day, that is damaging their lungs,” said Cacciato.  “It’s a like dirty bomb in the building.”

Cacciato has been fighting for her life for five years and wants to prevent others from going through lung cancer.

“I look healthy, but my lungs are filled with cancer,” said Cacciato. “With radon, it just seems to be this very elusive problem that people are very indifferent to, they don’t understand they don’t educate, and they don’t believe it.  You wouldn’t just let a fire go off in your house and leave it burning forever.”

INDIANA SCHOOLS NOT TESTING DESPITE EPA RECOMMENDATION

Radon is odorless, colorless and tasteless, and the only way to know if it’s there is to test for it.

The EPA recommends schools test at least once every five years.
Call 6 Investigates surveyed dozens of schools and analyzed Indiana State Department of Health data and found of the state’s 289 public school corporations only 4% have tested for radon in the last decade.
“Let’s just call it out for what it is—it’s negligence,” said Cacciato.
RTV6 found large districts with thousands of students like Wayne Township, Carmel Clay, Perry Township, Mt. Vernon, Lawrence Township and Westfield haven’t tested for radon in the last ten years.
Some districts pointed out Indiana does not require schools or daycares to test for radon.

A dozen states have laws or regulations in place that require or encourage radon testing in schools including Illinois, Colorado, Florida, Virginia, Oregon, Connecticut, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska.

DISTRICT SHOWS HIGH RESULTS, BUT ACTION REMAINS UNCLEAR

Call 6 Investigates uncovered the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation found dangerous of levels of radon in 2013, and it’s unclear, what if anything they did about it.
The EPA recommends schools take action to mitigate when the radon level hits 4 pCi/L or above.

---

Source: www.theindychannel.com

Author: Kara Kenney