Date Published: 05/05/2020 [Source]
A study expected to determine the best path forward in mitigating dangerously high levels of radon from Denver's public housing units has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, a spokesperson for the Denver Housing Authority said in an email to CBS4.
In February, CBS4 Investigates hired a National Radon Safety Board-certified testing company to test five public housing units. The company, Area5280 Home Inspections, found radon levels twice the EPA's recommended limit in both units tested at the Columbine Homes complex. In the Westridge Homes complex, one result was just under the EPA's limit. Two other results were far below the limit.
What Is Radon?
Radon is a radioactive gas that comes up naturally through the ground, but when it gets trapped in the home, it can be inhaled at highly concentrated levels and can cause lung cancer. In fact, radon exposure is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers in the U.S., according to the EPA. The Centers for Disease Control said radon exposure causes more than 20,000 deaths in the U.S. every year.
Homes in Colorado have a greater risk of having higher radon levels, due to the geological makeup of the state's ground material.
Radon mitigation systems, which suck the radon gases out from underneath the home and disperse them into the outside air, can be installed on the side of homes to significantly lower toxic radon levels inside.
That's something that worries residents like Barbara Alcon, who lives the Westridge Homes complex. While CBS4 Investigates found a low radon level in Alcon's home, she said she's concerned about the safety of others in the city's public housing.
"What are they going to do if somebody dies, gets sick, because their radon was too high?" Alcon asked in a February interview with CBS4 Investigates. "Are they going to feel guilty about it? Or are they going to brush it off? That's the scary thing about it."