Date Published: 11/22/2019 [Source]
Children, senior citizens and others have been left vulnerable after public housing authorities across the country have refused to locate and eradicate radon in their homes.
About 70 percent of Denver's public housing units have not been tested leaving its tenants exposed to potential health problems. After testing was done by The Oregonian/OregonLive, high levels were detected leaving residents alarmed and concerned. The housing authority declares that it wouldn't follow up with these issues.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has encouraged this negligence. This goes against a decades-old legal mandate from Congress to ensure the problem got fixed.
Over 400,000 public housing residents live in areas that, like Denver, are at gravest risk for indoor exposure to the carcinogen, according to an analysis of federal data by The Oregonian/OregonLive. As many as half of all tests from private homes in these areas reveal radon concentrations so high that owners are advised to install specialized ventilation systems. Tens of thousands have done so.