“ As a result of the recent interest about radon in schools, BASD decided to include radon testing in its next round of scheduled proactive air quality testing,” district Chief Facilities and Operations Officer Mark Stein told lehighvalleylive. com in May.
How that testing will look is now coming into focus, he said earlier this month.
The district’ s proposal for its annual air quality testing includes radon testing scheduled for late September, with the balance of the testing set to occur in early November once the heating season begins, Stein said.
Officials were finalizing the testing contract with a certified industrial hygienist, so the cost was not immediately available, Stein said.
The district’ s contractor tests air quality parameters in about half of the district’ s 25 buildings each year, according to Stein.
The buildings planned for testing this fall are James Buchanan, Hanover, Gov. Wolf, Lincoln, Marvine, Miller Heights, Spring Garden, Thomas Jefferson and William Penn elementary schools; Broughal and Northeast middle schools; the Education Center; and the district’ s Maintenance and Transportation buildings.
“ We plan to catch the other half of the district buildings following fiscal year,” Stein said Thursday.
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer.
A widespread concern in Pennsylvania due to the state’ s geology, radon can migrate into buildings from soil through foundation cracks, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
An estimated 40 % of homes tested for radon showed levels above the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’ s action guideline of 4 picocuries of the odorless gas per liter of air( pCi / L), the DEP says on its Radon Division webpage.