What you need to know about radon
Lung cancer is the main concern from radon exposure, but Mellars said that there have been connections made to other types of cancer as well. The gas is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen,“ which means they know it causes lung cancer or cancer in humans.”
“ Our goal is just to help everybody be exposed to it as little as possible because that will help to make each individual and make the state of Utah just a safer place,” Mellars said.
Darren Stoddard, an eighth grader at the Promontory School of Expeditionary Learning, looks at his class’ s research on radon at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
TJ Mellars, the general manager of Utah Radon Services, shared that radon is a radioactive gas and the No. 1 cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers.
“ It’ s a colorless, odorless, tasteless, invisible gas, that seeps in through the cracks of the ground, builds up in your house and causes lung cancer,” said Junior Spencer, one of the students from Promontory School.
Mellars explained that it cannot be detected by human senses, so the only way to detect or measure radon is to do a radon test.
The students from Promontory shared what they learned about radon and the damage it causes.
“ We learned that radon is a very harmful gas that like gets into your lungs, and then it causes lung cancer,” said eighth grader Rudra Ahir.
“ It’ s really bad, it’ s like super bad,” Spencer said, adding that he learned that breathing high levels of radon is like smoking multiple cigarettes a day.
How Utahns can test for radon
Radon comes from decaying uranium and radium in the soil, and because homes have lower air pressure than the soil below them, they act like vacuums sucking the gases out of the soil and into the home.
Artwork created by Promontory School of Expeditionary Learning students is displayed at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Students of the Promontory School of Expeditionary Learning share their research on radon at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News