Network JAMAI O pen ,.
Research Letter | Public Health
Estimated Radon Exposure in Eastern Pennsylvania Schools
Brian Yang ; Chrysan Cronin , DrPH , MPH , MS ; Beth A . Tarini , MD , MS , MBA
Introduction
Radon 222 is the leading cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers . 1 Children ’ s lung cancer risk from radon exposure may be up to 3-fold higher than adults exposed to the same radon amount . 1 Indoor spaces can have elevated radon levels due to lower particle dispersion . 2 Pennsylvania
has the third-highest US average indoor radon levels . 3 In Pennsylvania , schools are not required to test for radon , despite Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) recommendations . Radon mitigation reduces indoor radon exposure after radon testing detects elevated radon . The EPA recommends radon mitigation at 4 pCi / L , whereas the World Health Organization recommends mitigation at or above 2.7 pCi / L . We estimated children ’ s annual additional radon and radiation exposure risk from public schools in 5 eastern Pennsylvania school districts .
+ Supplemental content
Author affiliations and article information are listed at the end of this article .
Methods This cross-sectional study followed the STROBE reporting guideline . Because we used publicly available deidentified data , no IRB review or patient consent was required . We used average indoor residential basement radon levels ( AIRRL ) data with spatial resolution based on zip codes to estimate school-based radon and radiation dose exposure to children attending five eastern Pennsylvania school districts . Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection ( PADEP ) collected these data from 1990 to 2022 . 4 Using National Center for Educational Statistics district data , 5 we matched the school ’ s zip code to PADEP average basement radon data for that zip code .
To provide clinical context of annual school-based radiation dose , we converted the PADEP average indoor radon level for each zip code from picocurie per liter ( pCi / L ) to millisieverts ( mSv ) and millirem ( mrem ) ( eAppendix in Supplement 1 ). We calculated the projected radiation exposure in mSv and mrem using the 2018 Protection Summary of International Commission on Radiological Protection ( ICRP ) Recommendations on Radon . We conservatively estimated annual school-based radon radiation exposure based on 1200 hours / school year . 2 The statistical analysis was performed from April 21 to June 4 , 2024 . Results Based on our analyses , all children attending public schools in these 5 eastern Pennsylvania school districts ( n = 39 195 ) may have radon exposure that exceeds the EPA recommended action level of 4.0 pCi / L ( Table , Figure ). Notably , 7651 children ( 19.5 %) were found to attend public schools in zip codes where the AIRRL exceeded 11.0 pCi / L ; within this highly exposed group , 3373 ( 44.1 %) were elementary school students . Because of elevated school radon levels , these students may be exposed to additional potential annual radiation dose ranging from 1.37 mSv ( 136.84 mrem ) to 5.98 mSv ( 598.93 mrem ).
Open Access . This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC-BY License .
JAMA Network Open . 2024 ; 7 ( 12 ): e2448676 . doi : 10.1001 / jamanetworkopen . 2024.48676 ( Reprinted ) December 3 , 2024 1 / 4 Downloaded from jamanetwork . com by Brian Yang on 12 / 03 / 2024