Advisory Report

December 1999

EPA Proposes Plan for Greater Radon Protection 
In October 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed two options to states and water systems that would reduce public health risks from radon in drinking water and indoor air.

Under the first option, states can develop enhanced programs that address radon in indoor air while requiring individual water systems to reduce the level of radon in drinking water to 4,000 picoCuries per liter of water (pCi/L). Under the second option, states would elect to reduce radon in their system's drinking water to 300 pCi/L. Water systems at or below the 300 pCi/L standard would not be required to treat their water for radon.

The EPA estimates that the states' first option would cost approximately $86 million a year, while the second option would cost approximately $407 million a year. The proposed drinking water standards would apply only to community water systems that regularly serve 25 or more people or have at least 15 year-round service connections, and that use ground water as a drinking water source.

In 1988, the U.S. Surgeon General recommended that all homes in the United States be tested for radon in indoor air, and those with elevated levels, be mitigated. Since that time, the EPA has been working with state and local governments, and with public health organizations at the national, state and local levels to encourage the public to test for radon, fix high levels, and build new homes with radon-resistant techniques. The National Academy of Sciences, in its 1999 BEIR VI Report, urged people who had not had their homes tested for radon in indoor air to do so.

Learn more about radon.