House Bill to Curb Radon Danger Being Pushed

WASHINGTON — Government and health officials, pushing for what one congressman called “long overdue” national leadership on the hazards of radon, urged passage of a House bill that would offer states technical guidance and funding to combat the natural gas, which is second only to smoking as a cause of lung cancer.

“The tragedy of radon is more grim because we understand the cause of radon-induced lung cancer. It is almost entirely preventable and yet near to nothing is being done to stop it,” Robert E. Yunkhe of the Environmental Defense Fund testified Thursday before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health and the environment.

Bill Passed by Senate

The panel is considering a bill that would provide $31.5 million over three years to help states monitor and control radon in homes and schools. The Senate passed an almost identical measure in July.

Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency has no health safety standards for radon gas levels. It only issues recommendations indicating how radon exposure can be limited with current technology, which environmentalists say is not effective enough to prevent dangerous levels of the gas.

Rep. James J. Florio (D-N. J.), backed strongly by panel Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), called on the government to set an official standard for hazardous exposure to radon.

EPA Opposes Action

But Deputy EPA Administrator James Barnes told several skeptical congressmen that such a standard would be “ill-advised” and said that it would “unduly scare the American people about something they can’t do anything about.”

Supporting Barnes was Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), who sarcastically chided the “ingenuity” of his fellow Democrats on the panel and suggested facetiously that they would next introduce a bill to try “to make the Earth stop emitting radon.”

Radon, an odorless radioactive gas that is emitted naturally from the ground, is believed responsible for between 5,000 and 20,000 lung-cancer deaths a year. A home-building industry representative testifying Thursday said that many in the industry use and support building techniques that reduce the risk of the gas’ seeping into homes.

California Fairly Safe

A recent survey suggests that one in five homes is exposed to dangerous levels of radon, mostly on the East Coast. A study conducted in the summer of 1986 found that California homes were affected by radon far less frequently than homes on the East Coast.