International Journal of
Environmental Research
and Public Health
Review
Radon in Schools: A Brief Review of State Laws and
Regulations in the United States
Kelsey Gordon 1 , Paul D. Terry 2, *, Xingxing Liu 1 , Tiffany Harris 1 , Don Vowell 3 , Bud Yard 4
and Jiangang Chen 1, *
1
2
3
4
*
Department of Public Health, 390 HPER Building, 1914 Andy Holt Avenue, University of Tennessee,
Knoxville, TN 37996, USA; kgordo10@utk.edu (K.G.); xliu92@vols.utk.edu (X.L.);
tloveda4@vols.utk.edu (T.H.)
Department of Medicine, The University of Tennessee Medical Center, Knoxville, TN 37920, USA
The Vowell Law Firm, 6718 Albunda Drive, Knoxville, TN 37919, USA; don@vowell-law.com
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, 761 Emory Valley Rd, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA;
Bud.Yard@tn.gov
Correspondence: pdterry@utk.edu (P.D.T.); jchen38@utk.edu (J.C.); Tel.: +1-865-974-8487 (J.C.)
Received: 31 August 2018; Accepted: 26 September 2018; Published: 30 September 2018
Abstract: Exposure to Radon, a colorless, naturally occurring radioactive gas, is one of leading causes
of lung cancer, and may pose a significant long-term risk for school age children. We examined the
regulations and statutes in each US state related to radon in schools to delineate key features of policies
and discrepancies among states that may have public health implications. Search terms such as
“radon”, “school”, “mitigation”, “certification”, “licensing”, and “radon resistant new construction”
were used to scan current statutes from each state legislature’s website and regulations from official
state government websites for relevant regulatory and statutory requirements concerning radon
in schools. State regulations related to the testing, mitigation, and public dissemination of radon
levels in schools are inconsistent and the lack of nationwide indoor radon policy for schools may
result in unacceptably high radon exposure levels in some US schools. We highlight the features and
discrepancies of state laws and regulations concerning radon in schools, and offer several constructive
means to reduce risks associated with radon exposure in school children.
Keywords: radon exposure; environmental health of schools; state policy
1. Introduction
Radon is a naturally occurring colorless and odorless gas. It was first discovered in
the form of 222 Rn in 1899, with two other isotopes of Radon ( 220 Rn and 219 Rn) discovered
subsequently [1]. In general, 219 Rn and 220 Rn are not significant public health concerns in modern,
well-maintained architectural structures [2] due to the short half-life (3.96 and 55.6 seconds respectively).
222 Rn, in contrast, has a half-life of 3.8 days, which allows it to travel some distance. 222 Rn can seep
into building through cracks in floors, construction joints, and/or around service pipes. Henceforward,
222 Rn is referred to simply as ”radon”. There is no safe level of radon in the living environment.
Health effects of radon, most notably lung cancer, have been investigated for several decades.
Initially, investigations focused on underground miners exposed to high concentrations of radon in
their occupational environment [3]. However, the results of several surveys of radon concentrations
in homes and other buildings in the early 1980s suggested that radon also may be an important
cause of lung cancer in the general population [4]. Krewski and colleagues evaluated the risk
associated with prolonged residential radon exposure and risk of lung cancer using data collected
from seven large scale case-control studies (4081 cases and 5281 controls) conducted in North
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 2149; doi:10.3390/ijerph15102149
www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph