Latest Radium and radon in the environment Stories

DENVER, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The week of Oct. 17 - 24 is National Radon Awareness Week. Radon gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer reports the Centers for Disease Control. Health agencies throughout the United States are urging Americans to test their homes for this deadly gas during National Radon Awareness Week. This year, the week of October 17th through 24th has been designated as the week to take action and test your home for radon gas according to Air Quality Control...

LANSING, Mich., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- "The week of October 17 - October 24, 2010 is National Radon Awareness week," according to Jamey Gelina, President Air Quality Control Agency, North America's largest radon mitigation company. The Certified Environmental Specialist goes on to explain that "Radon is an odorless, colorless, tasteless gas formed from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock, and water." In outdoor air, radon is diluted to very low concentrations and isn't...

PITTSBURGH, Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The Environmental Protection Agency has designated January as National Radon Action Month. According to recent reports from the World Health Organization, radon gas is responsible for approximately 20,000 deaths in the U.S. and 100,000 deaths worldwide each year. This equates to about 15% of all lung cancer deaths. Statistically, radon is the leading cause of lung cancer for non-smokers and the second leading cause for smokers. Learn more about radon...

Radon is a colorless and odorless radioactive gas that is produced by the radioactive decay of radium. Radium is a product of uranium decay and is found in trace amounts naturally in nearly all rocks, soils, and groundwater as well as building materials, plants, animals, and the human body.Radon concentration is expressed as the amount of radiation that would be emitted by radon and its decay products in a liter of air; thus the units are picocuries per liter (pCi/L). The American Cancer...

DENVER, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The World Health Organization announced that they have established a new limit for indoor radon gas. The new maximum radon level is 2.7. This is a 32% reduction from the previously accepted "action level" of 4.0. http://www.mitigationsystem.com/releases/release/7166404/19723.htm This new limit was prompted by a recent compilation of studies submitted by scientists throughout the World which conclusively point to radon as the second leading cause of lung...

In light of the fact that naturally occurring radioactive gas is responsible for up to 14 percent of lung cancer cases, The World Health Organization has made significant cuts in the safety limits of radon to one-tenth of its current level."In view of the latest scientific data, WHO proposes a reference level of 100 becquerels per metric cube to minimize health hazards due to indoor radon exposure," said the UN health agency in a report published this week."However, if this...

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In simultaneous releases published around across the globe today, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for stronger action against indoor radon, the leading cause of lung cancer among U.S. and Canadian non-smokers. The central WHO recommendation is to lower radon gas levels by one-third below the current U.S. guidance. The lower WHO action level doubles the number of U.S. homes needing radon control systems from 8 million to 15 million....

Deaths from lung cancer could be reduced by better policies to control indoor radon, researchers in Britain said. A study, published in the British Medical Journal, said government protection policies focus mainly on the small number of homes with high radon levels and neglect the 95 percent of deaths linked to lower levels of radon. Alastair Gray, Sarah Darby and colleagues at the University of Oxford assessed the contribution of indoor radon to lung cancer deaths in Britain and examined...

Gov. Rendell Proclaims January 'Radon Action Month' HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Using a simple, inexpensive test to detect radon gas seeping into homes could help prevent lung cancer and save thousands of lives, Acting Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger said today. "Homeowners can protect themselves and their families from this known carcinogen by using a test kit available for about $25 at hardware stores or by contacting a Pennsylvania...

By Abby Lu THERE was one thing that evaded our mothers' scrutiny when they lectured us on the health hazards of ordinary things such as mobile phones, microwave ovens and barbequed food ... but it was probably because they didn't know about it either. A New York Times article has revealed that expensive granite countertops, a common fixture in kitchens, could contain more than bargained for. An igneous rock (formed of magma), granite is the natural source of radiation, as it contains...