Considered the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, radon gas leaches undetected into millions of basements each year where it is breathed in by unsuspecting occupants. The colorless, odorless, radioactive gas is responsible for about 21,000 deaths each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Because of the danger and risks involved with radon, state law requires any new licensed daycare centers to be tested for radon. Property owners selling a home must disclose any known radon levels, and Michigan's residential building code requires some new homes to be built with some radon resistant features. And while the EPA recommends that public school districts test buildings for radon every five years, there are no federal or state laws requiring schools to conduct tests at all.
Of the 28 public school districts in Oakland County, districts that regularly test for radon or have plans to test for radon, include: Bloomfield Hills Schools, Clawson Public Schools, Ferndale Public Schools, Novi Community Schools, Rochester Community Schools and South Lyon Community Schools.
Some districts – including Birmingham Public Schools, Huron Valley Schools, Troy School District, and Walled Lake Consolidated Schools – have tested for radon in at least one building or more in the past, but don't plan on testing in the future. The remainder of the public school districts in the county said they don't test, while six districts failed to respond to inquiries from Downtown.
"Unfortunately, radon is easy to ignore because there are no short-term side effects," said Aaron Berndt, state radon officer with the Michigan Indoor Radon Program in the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).
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Testing for radon in schools not always done
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