CR3 News Magazine 2020 VOL 4: September Radon, Schools & Home Study | Page 26

914545SGOXXX10.1177/2158244020914545SAGE OpenMartin et al. research-article20202020 Original Research Radon From the Ground into Our Schools: Parent and Guardian Awareness of Radon SAGE Open January-March 2020: 1 –8 © The Author(s) 2020 https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020914545 DOI: journals.sagepub.com/home/sgo Kirsten Martin 1 , Rebecca Ryan 2 , Thomas Delaney 1 , David A. Kaminsky 1 , Scott J. Neary 1 , Ethan E. Witt 1 , Florence Lambert-Fliszar 1 , Kyle Remy 1 , Shawn Sanford 1 , Kathryn Grenoble 1 , and Jan K. Carney 1 Abstract Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. Exposure in schools may be harmful to schoolchildren and staff. However, states differ considerably in their approaches to mandating radon testing and mitigaiton in schools. In this study, 126 survey responses were received and analyzed from parents of K-12 children in Vermont, USA. Qualitative data were obtained by interviewing two parents for their views and concerns about radon in schools. Our results showed that only 51% of parents believed that radon affects the lungs and only 39% identified it as a carcinogen. 91% believed their children’s schools should act to address elevated radon levels and 87% supported mandated mitigation. These data suggest that there is already overwhelming support for radon regulation in schools among parents of K-12 children. Parents with children in elementary school were significantly more likely to support radon testing, mitigation, and legislation than parents with older children. This suggests that these parents may be strong advocates to encourage legislative action. Parents with more knowledge about radon were significantly more likely to support radon testing in schools. Educating parents about exposure to radon at school and its association with lung cancer could strengthen existing community support for legislation mandating radon testing and mitigation. Keywords schools, education, social sciences, law and courts, legal studies, political science, teacher education, health communication, human communication, communication studies, communication, students Introduction Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers and is the second leading cause of all lung cancers after smoking (United States Environmental Protection Agency [U.S. EPA], 2017). Radon is a colorless and odorless radioactive gas produced by the decay of uranium in rock and soil. The natural release of radon gas from rock and soil permeates air, groundwater, and surface water (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Division of Toxicology and Human Health Sciences, 2012). The U.S. EPA estimates that radon is responsible for about 21,000 lung cancer– related deaths per year (U.S. EPA, 2017), and residential exposure to radon is positively correlated with lung cancer risk (Darby et al., 2005; Kim et al., 2016; Krewski et al., 2006; Letourneau et al., 1994; Lubin et al., 2004). Although less well-documented, the level of exposure to radon in schools may be harmful to schoolchildren and school staff (Branco et al., 2016). Based on the National Radon School Survey, the EPA estimates that about 19.3% of U.S. schools have at least one classroom with short-term radon levels at or above 4 pCi/L, the level at which the EPA recommends mitigation to reduce radon levels to a safe range (U.S. EPA, Air and Radiation, 1993). However, 37 states in the United States do not have legislation that mandates monitoring of radon levels in schools. Of the states with radon legislation, only nine have laws requiring testing, whereas four others have legislation describing radon testing as “recommended,” “encouraged,” or “voluntary” (Gordon et al., 2018). In addition, only five of 1 The University of Vermont, Burlington, USA 2 American Lung Association, Williston, VT, USA Corresponding Author: Kirsten Martin, The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine, The University of Vermont, E-126 Given Medical Building, 89 Beaumont Ave., Burlington, VT 05405, USA. Email: [email protected] Creative Commons CC BY: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).