WASHINGTON - A cancer-causing gas could be going undetected in local schools because of inconsistencies in state laws that require some school systems to test but not others.
That gas is called radon. A naturally occurring radioactive gas that comes from the ground and can seep into enclosed spaces at cancer-causing levels like homes and schools according to the Environmental protection agency.
And because radon is colorless and odorless you never know it’s there unless you test.
Experts said the effects of radon show up in lung cancer.
“I mean a lot of carcinogens have risks measured on parts per 10,000, parts per 100,000, part per million, part per billion,” said Ryan Paris, radon coordinator for the state of Virginia.
Paris said the EPA puts the risk of lung cancer for someone exposed to dangerous levels of radon over long periods of time at one percent.
“That’s one in 100. As a carcinogen goes, that’s pretty significant,” Paris said.
Paris also said the lung cancer risk goes up if the person exposed to the dangerous radon levels is a smoker, or ex-smoker, either now or in the future. In fact, the American Lung Association says radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer, next to smoking. Killing an estimated 21,000 people a year.
“I think what we see too often is people not taking it seriously,” said Janice Nolen, Assistant Vice President for National Policy for American Lung Association. “Not recognizing that Radon is a threat. That it’s radioactive, that it’s a carcinogen, that’s present in unhealthy levels in many many places. Schools are one of them.”
While many naturally worry about children in those schools, Nolen said teachers and school workers are at even greater risk since they spend even more time in those schools.
WUSA9 spent months gathering and studying radon results from hundreds of area schools and found more than two dozen where unsafe levels of radon were found. Keep in mind, that’s just in the schools that test for radon. Only seven states including Virginia and D.C., require schools to test for radon.
Maryland is one of the states that does not require schools to test for radon. And at least seven school districts in the state have never tested its schools and classrooms for radon even if those schools sit in EPA identified radon hot zones, according to records requests filed by WUSA9.
“That’s scary,” said MaryAnn Taitano who has four children who have or currently attend Hollywood Elementary School in St. Mary’s County, one of the school districts that has never tested classrooms for radon levels.
That’s especially concerning for Taitano because Hollywood Elementary sits in one of the radon “hot zones” as identified by the EPA.
“How do we get them to test,” Taitano said. “I mean how do I get this elevated because it has serious long-term concerns.”
St. Mary’s School spokesperson Edmund Law declined WUSA9’s request for an interview.
But the EPA doesn't just recommend school districts test for radon. They say school systems should meet a national standard of testing for radon every five years. Only a handful of states, including West Virginia, meet the EPA’s recommended five-year testing standard.
The reason more states don’t require radon testing in schools may be financial.
Radon testing is not cheap. New Jersey and Ohio both repealed laws requiring school districts to test for radon because the lawmakers there determined radon testing was an “unfunded mandate.” Meaning schools were required to do something they couldn't afford to do.
So how much does that radon testing cost? Just ask Stafford County, in Virginia which has been dealing with dangerous radon levels in several its schools since 2012.
Stafford County Schools has spent more than $40,000 on radon testing since 2012, finding classrooms, with six, seven, and eight times the acceptable limits.
The good news is, dangerous radon levels are an easy fix if a school district has the money.
Stafford County had to spend an additional $57,000 for just three mitigation systems in schools with radon problems to reduce dangerous radon levels.
In nearby Culpeper County Virginia, school leaders say the cost of radon testing and possible remediation, must be taken from other school needs.
“There’s no additional money provided for that,” said Dr. Stacey Timmons, Executive Director of Operations. “That’s got to come from somewhere in our budget. That we, we have to find it.”
Culpeper County is in the process of doing that right now, after realizing two of their buildings, now a decade old, have never been tested for radon, in violation of Virginia’s law.
Timmons said the radon tests at Eastern View High School and Yowell Elementary School were simply never done.
“I think I would be foolish to say I didn't have some concerns,” Timmons said. “Obviously, I think we are all concerned about the safety of students and staff.”
In Hollywood, Maryland, MaryAnn Taitano wants answers why her school system seemingly doesn't share that concern.
"And why would they test in Virginia? Why would they test in D.C.? Why aren't they testing down here," Taitano said.
The Maryland Department of Health refused an interview request from WUS 9. But the agency sent a statement, seen below, that said it's more focused on getting people to test their homes for radon because they spend more time there.
"The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), under a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is working with the Maryland Department of Health (MDH), local health departments, and local environmental health bureaus to increase awareness of radon and encourage radon testing in homes. MDE and MDH continue to look for opportunities to increase home testing through a variety of outreach efforts. At this point, some school systems have elected to test for radon. As the grant continues, there is the possibility of discussions with school systems that are not currently testing for radon, but currently, the home is viewed as the most critical source of exposure."