EPA joins initiative to prevent lung cancer deaths due to radon exposure

In an effort to reduce radon exposure, which is the country’s second leading cause of lung cancer, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), American Lung Association and other organizations are partnering on the National Radon Action Plan: A Strategy for Saving Lives.

The recently announced initiative seeks to reduce high levels of radioactive radon gas in five million buildings, like homes, apartments and schools, and therefore prevent 3,200 lung cancer deaths each year by 2020. The partnership of three federal departments and nine national organizations seeks to update house financing and insurance procedures to include mandatory radon testing and reduction systems, as well as add radon risk reduction to building codes throughout the country.

“EPA is very pleased to be a partner in this important life-saving effort to prevent lung cancer caused by radon,” EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said. “Working together creates new opportunities for reducing the risk from radon. Combining our resources will save American lives by magnifying our effectiveness in preventing exposure to radon in homes and schools.”

Other partners on the initiative include the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Health and Human Services, the American Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists (AARST), the Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN) and the Environmental Law Institute (ELI).