Improving Air Quality in Your Community
Indoor Air: Radon
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.Additional Information
You can help reduce emissions of radon from homes and businesses by conducting these activities:
- Sponsor awareness activities
- Assist homeowners with testing
- Assist homeowners with mitigation
- Work with homebuilders to encourage radon awareness
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Sponsor Awareness Activities
How?- Sponsor events during Radon Awareness Month in January.
- Create a public service announcement for use on local television or radio stations, or distribute EPA's public service announcements to your local media affiliate(s).
- Sponsor a radon awareness booth at public locations such as libraries, community centers, or schools. These booths can also be set up at public events such as fairs or athletic events.
- Maintain a radon awareness booth at state and county fairs or hold a health fair related to radon awareness.
- Distribute coupons for free or reduced radon test kits.
- Develop posters, videos, and other materials to use at radon awareness events.
- Increasing awareness of risk from radon can lead to risk reduction actions when appropriate.
- Many pamphlets, videos, videos, posters, and booklet are available at no cost from EPA and other organizations.
- Costs to put together booths or customized materials.
- EPA's Citizen's Guide to Radon: The Guide to Protecting Yourself and Your Family from Radon information about radon. (Spanish)
- The American Lung Association
has general information about radon. - EPA information regarding radon awareness for home buyers and sellers. (Spanish)
- Other EPA materials for radon awareness, including videos, public service announcements, and hotlines.
- EPA outreach & education materials available on CD-ROM upon request.
Assist Homeowners with Testing
How?- Provide homeowners with informational materials that emphasize the importance of testing homes for radon.
- Offer testing kits to homeowners.
- If someone is buying or selling a home, it's helpful to use short-term (1-month to 3-month durations) kits.
- If someone is currently living in the home and wants to know the average radon level, then long-term kits (3-month to 1-year durations) are best.
- Make available funding for homeowners to use to hire certified radon testing contractors or "do-it-yourself" testing kits.
- Maintain a list of certified radon testing contractors in your area.
- Increasing awareness of homeowner exposure to radon may motivate risk reduction actions when appropriate.
- Short-term test kits: $10 to $25 per kit when purchased at retailers.
- Long-term test kits: $25-$50 per kit when used at retailers.
- The low-cost short- and long-term test kits offered through the National Safety Council cost around $10 to $20.
- Costs for testing by certified contractors can vary by state and/or type of job.
- EPA Home Buyer's and Seller's Guide to Radon. (Spanish)
- National Safety Council coupons for homeowners to use when purchasing radon test kits through them.
- State or regional radon contact for a list of certified radon testing contractors.
- National Environmental Health Association's National Radon Proficiency Program and the National Radon Safety Board lists of certified radon testing contractors.
- For assistance, contact your state, local, or Tribal radon program and universities.
Assist Homeowners with Mitigation
How?- Provide "how-to" guides for mitigating or finding a qualified mitigation contractor.
- Provide assistance to low-income homeowners to mitigate their homes.
- Reducing exposure of homeowners to radon levels due to decreased radon levels in homes.
- Costs of providing funding for homeowners to mitigate radon problems.
- Retrofitting existing homes with a radon reduction system can range in costs from $800 to $2,500.
- State or regional radon contact list of certified radon mitigation contractors.
- National Environmental Health Association's National Radon Proficiency Program and National Radon Safety Board lists of certified radon mitigation contractors.
- For assistance contact your state, local, or Tribal radon program and and universities.
- The Department of Housing and Urban Development offers a section 203(k) mortgage program, which allows for homeowners to finance the purchase and repair or improvement of a home, including reducing radon levels.
Work with Homebuilders to Encourage Radon Awareness
How?- Encourage homebuilders to test for elevated radon levels during the pre-construction process.
- Provide materials on why it is important to consider radon during the construction process.
- Offer seminars for contractors to raise radon awareness.
- Extend funding for radon testing to homebuilders.
- If your jurisdiction is in an area where high radon potential exists, consider developing radon building codes.
- Reduced exposure to radon for homeowners purchasing new homes.
- Costs for holding radon awareness seminars for homebuilders.
- Building a new home with radon-resistant features is typically cheaper than mitigating a home after it is built.
- EPA materials for radon awareness seminars.
- EPA's Building Radon Out: A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Build Radon-Resistant Homes (PDF) (84 pp, 8.4 MB).
- EPA information to help new home buyers understand the danger of radon. EPA also has a pamphlet on this topic.
- Passive Radon Control System for New Construction (PDF) (4 pp, 962 KB). Drawings available for download and use by a CADD system.
- Energy Star Web site for more partners and resources.
- EPA map for determining radon potential. This map helpful when applying for radon mitigation funding.
- EPA model radon building codes for use by jurisdictions wanting to regulate the construction of new buildings.