Editorial: Pennsylvania needs to test schools for radon
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Radon could be almost anywhere.
You can’t see it like smoke. It is colorless and transparent. You can’t smell it like a gas leak. It gives off no telltale scent. You can’t feel it in the air like the moisture of a foggy day. It is as stealthy as it is dangerous.
And it is definitely a threat. Radon is radioactive but not man-made. It is present in the atmosphere in harmless, barely there levels, but inside buildings, those trace amounts can build up. As people marinate in them and the levels climb, they become a problem.
At their worst, they can cause lung cancer and, by extension, death.
So it would make sense that radon is something we would want to avoid. We don’t want smoke in our homes because it could affect our breathing. We react to gas leaks because they can be deadly. Obviously, we want to address radon the same way. And we do. Radon test kits are recommended by the federal and state governments to cut down on the risks.
But in Pennsylvania, we don’t do the same with schools.
Why not? Kids have to be in school for half their waking day. It isn’t optional. If you don’t send your kid to school, you can be dragged into court. For 13 years, 180 days a year, your kids can be in a government building that the state doesn’t require to be tested for something deadly.
Is it because Pennsylvania isn’t at risk? No. There are an estimated 1,400 radon deaths in the state each year. The Keystone State is third in radon presence in the soil.
Bills have been introduced. State Rep. Bob Brooks, R-Murrysville, co-sponsored one. But they die because there is no funding for the testing. A test is about $1,500 per building. Remediation can range from $3,000 to $10,000, which sounds like a lot but is nothing compared to the cost of successful cancer treatment or a funeral.
Pennsylvania finds things to do with money every year that might seem important to the people lobbying for the funds. They are, no doubt, good ideas and valuable projects.
But are any of them as important as not giving kids cancer?
The state Legislature needs to pass the requirement and find the funding. Trim a dollar here and a hundred there from other projects. Maybe they could repeal that cost of living adjustment built into their pay.
Because there is no point in educating kids for a tomorrow they won’t see if they die of a completely preventable disease.