Date Published: 09/27/2006 [Source]
State study finds thousands of homes with unsafe radon levels Associated Press
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Thousands of Illinois homes contain unsafe levels of a radioactive gas, while many others don't know if they face the same hazards, a new statewide study has found.
The Illinois Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday a two-year statewide study of radon levels by professional contractors found dangerous levels of radon in nearly half of 22,000 tested homes.
In more than 20 counties with mostly metropolitan areas, the levels of the odorless, tasteless and colorless gas that comes from uranium in soil were significantly higher than federal standards deem to be safe.
Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer and kills more than 21,000 people nationwide each year, including up to 900 in Illinois, officials said. It enters homes through small cracks in foundations, sump pumps or soil in crawlspaces.