action threshold of 4 picocuries per liter . Deb Erdley and Megan Tomasic explain why children are the ones most likely to be exposed to radon and develop health consequences later in life :
For them , the risk of developing radon-induced cancer later in life is twice as high as adults with the same exposure because youngsters ’ quickly changing bodies and rapid breathing rates translate into larger doses of radiation , researchers found .
Children exposed to radon plus tobacco smoke are 20 times more likely to develop lung cancer , researchers found . Pennsylvanians might reasonably expect that their state , with the third highest radon levels in the nation , would make testing of all schools and child care centers mandatory . Erdley and Tomasic say that ’ s not happening , and state politicians are to blame : In the past decade , at least five bills requiring testing in schools have been introduced in the state House and then shifted to committee , where they languished without a hearing or committee vote , records show .
Hesitation to pass those bills comes as an estimated 21,000 Americans — 1,400 in Pennsylvania — die each year because of exposure to the naturally occurring colorless , odorless gas that makes its way into basements through virtually any opening , according to the American Lung Association . 1.7 million children attend schools in Pennsylvania . The two reporters surveyed 61 school districts and found only 19 reported radon testing in the past 5 years :
Of the 61 school districts surveyed by the Trib , those with no records of testing ranged from larger districts such as Upper St . Clair and Greater Latrobe to smaller ones such as Jeannette and Monessen .
The region ’ s largest district — Pittsburgh Public Schools — had no record of testing in the past five years .
Others said they had not tested for anywhere from six to more than 30 years ago . Erdley and Tomasic spoke to one area pediatrician who finds the lack of radon testing in Pennsylvania schools outrageous :