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Radon Publications


If you have further questions about Radon, please call your State or Regional Radon Contact or the National Radon Information Line at:

1-800-SOS-RADON
[1 (800) 767-7236]


Get the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view PDF files linked on this page.  See EPA's PDF page to learn more.  [En Espanol]

Additional Indoor Air Quality resources on Asthma, Secondhand Smoke, Schools, Large Buildings and Homes can be found at our Indoor Air Publications site.

A Citizen's Guide to Radon  The guide to protecting yourself and your family from radon

This guidance offers strategies for testing your home for radon and discussions of what steps to take after you have tested, discussions of the risk of radon and radon myths.

Manual Informativo Sobre El Radón, La Guía para proteger a su familia y a usted del radón

Esta publicación para el sitio Web es la traducción al español de "A Citizen’s Guide to Radón".  Este manual le ofrece información sobre los riesgos debido a la exposición al gas radón y aclara datos acerca de los mitos existentes sobre el mismo. También encontrará estrategias para hacer la prueba de radón en su hogar y los pasos a seguir después de hacer la misma.

Home Buyer's and Seller's Guide to Radon

This booklet is intended for anyone who is buying or selling a home, real estate and relocation professionals, home inspectors and others.

Guía del Radon para el Comprador y Vendedor de Viviedas

El presente folleto está destinado a toda persona que esté en proceso de comprar o vender una vivienda, a los profesionales de bienes raíces y traslados, a los inspectores de viviendas y a otras personas. Vaya a la Sección 8.c.1, en este supervínculo, para conseguir información sobre como obtener uno o varios ejemplares de esta Guía.  Si está interesado en imprimir este folleto, llame al (202) 343-9427 donde obtendrá más información sobre cómo obtener un CD.Rom (Adobe PageMaker 6.5 para Windows).

Consumer's Guide to Radon Reduction How to Reduce Radon Levels in Your Home...

You have tested your home for radon, but now what? This recently revised booklet is for people who have tested their home for radon and confirmed that they have elevated radon levels -- 4 picoCuries per liter (pCi/L) or higher.  This booklet can help you to select a qualified contractor to reduce the radon levels in your home, determine an appropriate radon reduction method, and maintain your radon reduction system.

Breathing Easy: What Home Buyers and Sellers Should Know About Radon

The video satisfies a long-standing need for a short visual educational tool on how to best include radon in residential real estate transactions.  With a bit of light humor, the video covers the basics, including radon science, the lung cancer risk, home inspection, building a new home radon-resistant, testing and fixing a home, disclosure, state radon offices, hotline and web resources, and key radon numbers, e.g., EPA's action level and the U.S. indoor and outdoor averages.

The primary audiences are home buyers and sellers, and real estate sales agents and brokers. Home inspectors, mortgage lenders, other real estate practitioners, and radon services providers will also find the video helpful.

Contractor Report: Exploratory Study of Basement Moisture During Operation of ASD Radon Control Systems (March 2008)

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division commissioned an Exploratory Study of Basement Moisture During Operation of ASD Radon Control Systems, under a cooperative agreement with Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama.  The principal investigator was Brad Turk of Environmental Building Sciences, Inc., Las Vegas, New Mexico. The purpose of the study was to better understand the potential moisture reduction benefits from the operation of residential radon control systems. The report contains information of interest to a wide variety of audiences.  Therefore, EPA is making this contractor’s report publicly available.  Because it is a contractor’s report, its findings, conclusions and recommendations are those of its authors, not necessarily those of EPA.  The Agency believes that this information may be useful to industry associations, standard-setting organizations, government agencies and consumers.

The principal investigators are currently conducting an extended analysis of the existing information and data. That analysis is expected to be completed by June 1, 2008.  At that time, the Agency will develop a public position on the additional analysis and the report’s findings and recommendations.

Building Radon Out: A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Build Radon-Resistant Homes

This 81-page, fully illustrated guide contains all the info you need in one place to educate home builders about radon-resistant new construction (RRNC), including: Basic questions and detailed answers about radon and RRNC; Specific planning steps before installing a system; Detailed installation instructions with helpful illustrations; Tips and tricks when installing a system, Marketing know-how when dealing with homebuyers; and, Architectural drawings.

  • This publication is not available in HTML
  • PDF Version (PDF, 84 pp, 5.52MB)
  • [EPA 402-K-01-002, April 2001]

 

EPA’s Recommended Residential Radon Mitigation Standard of Practice

EPA recommends the Standard Practice for Radon Mitigation Systems in Existing Low-Rise Residential Buildings* for residential radon mitigation. The Agency initially recognized this standard in 2003 as the most appropriate guide to reducing radon in homes as far as practicable below the national action level of 4 pCi/L in indoor air.  A single free copy of the E-2121 standard is available from the Agency’s National Service Center for Environmental Publications. Copies of the standard may be purchased from ASTMI exiting EPA, or from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) exiting EPA.

*E-2121-03 (February 10, 2003), American Society for Testing and Materials International (ASTMI); an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved consensus standard. Note: As of May 2006, EPA's Radon Mitigation Standards (EPA 402-R-93-078, Revised April 1994) is no longer recommended or available.

To control for radon in new residential construction, EPA recommends the use of ASTM’s Standard Practice for Radon Control Options for the Design and Construction of New Low-Rise Residential Buildings*. A single free printed copy of ASTM E 1465-07a is available from EPA upon request. Use EPA’s document number (402-K-07-010) when ordering from the National Service Center for Environmental Publications.

*ASTM E1465-07a; July 15, 2007. EPA reprints E1465-07a by permission with ASTM. Copies of E1465-07a may be purchased from ASTM International exiting EPA, or from the American National Standards Institute exiting EPA.

Local Efforts to Reduce Exposure to Radon

Every day in the United States someone is exposed to radon gas in their home. EPA and its partners are working to inform and educate citizens of the dangers associated with exposure to radon gas.

  • Read about some outstanding examples and lessons learned of the successes achieved (PDF, 12 pp, 352KB)
Model Standards and Techniques for Control of Radon in New Residential Buildings

This document is intended to serve as a model for use by the Model Code Organizations, States and other jurisdictions as they develop and adopt building codes, appendices to codes, or standards specifically applicable to their unique local or regional radon control requirements.

Radon - A Physician's Guide: The Health Threat With A Simple Solution

This booklet on radon has been developed for physicians by the EPA in consultation with the American Medical Association (AMA). Its purpose is to enlist physicians in the national effort to inform the American public about the serious health risk posed by indoor radon gas.

A Radon Guide for Tenants

This guide, created by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) with EPA's review, is for people who rent their apartments or houses. The guide explains what radon is, and how to find out if there is a radon problem in your home. The guide also talks about what you can do if there are high radon levels in your home.

Radon in Schools (Second Edition)

It is important that students, teachers and parents be aware that a potential radon problem could exist in their school.

Buying a New Home: How to Protect Your Family From Radon

This introductory brochure provides basic information on radon-resistant construction in new homes and directs the reader to more detailed information.

Building a New Home: Have You Considered Radon?

This brochure is designed for consumers who are purchasing newly constructed homes and are curious about radon-resistant features, builders who construct homes with radon-resistant features, and real estate professionals who are selling homes which have radon-resistant features. It can be used as a marketing tool for the home building industry.

Passive Radon Control System for New Construction

These architectural drawings are intended for use by architects, home builders, designers, radon mitigators and other interested in the installation of passive radon control systems in one and two-family dwellings.  Architectural drawings of: passive radon control system; crawlspace radon control system; and additional fan for active system are available.

Radon Prevention in the Design and Construction of Schools and Other Large Buildings.

It is typically easier and much less expensive to design and construct a new building with radon-resistant and/or easy-to-mitigate features, than to add these features after the building is completed and occupied.

Radon Measurement in Schools (Revised Edition - Second Printing)

This report has been prepared to provide school administrators and facilities managers with instructions on how to test for the presence of radon. The findings from EPA's comprehensive studies of radon measurements in schools have been incorporated into these recommendations. This report supersedes Radon Measurements in Schools - An Interim Report (EPA 520/1-89-010).

Reducing Radon in Schools: A Team Approach.

This document will assist you in determining the best way to reduce elevated radon levels found in a school. It is designed to guide you through the process of confirming a radon problem, selecting the best mitigation strategy, and directing the efforts of a multidisciplinary team assembled to address elevated radon levels in a way that will contribute to the improvement of the overall indoor air quality of the school.

Reducing Radon Risks (the "Hold Your Breath" brochure)
 
Technical Support Document for the 1992 Citizen's Guide to Radon

This document presents the wide range of technical analyses, radon risk communication research, legislative directives, and other information that the U.S. EPA used to shape the policies that are set forth in the 1992 "A Citizen's Guide to Radon." The document summarizes extensive technical analyses of the data that have been gathered over the past years.

  • [EPA 400-R-92-011, May 1992]
Radon Reduction Techniques for Existing Detached Houses:  Technical Guidance (Third Edition) for Active Soil Depressurization Systems

This technical guidance document has been prepared to serve as a comprehensive aid in the detailed selection, design, installation, and operation of indoor radon reduction measures for existing houses based on active soil depressurization techniques.  It is intended for use by radon mitigation contractors, building contractors, concerned homeowners, state and local officials and other interested persons.  Office of Research and Development

  • [EPA 625/R-93-011, October 1993]
Indoor Radon and Radon Decay Product Measurement Device Protocols

This document provides information, recommendations, and technological guidance for anyone providing measurement services using 15 radon and radon decay product measurement methods. These protocols provide method-specific technological guidance that can be used as the basis for standard operating procedures.

Protocols for Radon and Radon Decay Product Measurements in Homes

This document presents the U.S. EPA's technical guidance for measuring radon concentrations in residences. It contains protocols for measuring radon for the purpose of deciding on the need for remedial action, as presented in the 1992 A Citizen's Guide to Radon, and in the Home Buyer's and Seller's Guide to Radon.

  • This document is not available in HTML
  • PDF Version (PDF, 47pp, 674KB)
  • [EPA 402-R-92-003, May 1993* this is a corrected document number]
Learning About Radon A Part Of Nature

Written for Native Americans, this 18-page booklet discusses radon's place in the world, the basics on testing, and how homes can be fixed to reduce radon levels. Native Americans should contact their Tribal health department or state radon program office for more information.

EPA Map of Radon Zones

The purpose of this map is to assist National, State, and local organizations to target their resources and to implement radon-resistant building codes. This map is not intended to be used to determine if a home in a given zone should be tested for radon. Homes with elevated levels of radon have been found in all three zones. All homes should be tested regardless of geographic location.

View Frequent Questions / Ask a Question

Search frequently asked questions or submit your own question or comment in our Frequent Questions Database.  In addition to questions and answers relating to indoor environments, you may use this database to find information on any of our topic areas (click on the icon for a list of IAQ topics with their descriptions, for example, Asthma, Radon, IAQ Tools for Schools, Mold, Smoke-free Homes, IAQ Design Tools for Schools, and General Indoor Air Quality Issues).  You can also use this database to subscribe to any new information or updated information relating to any of the topics that may be posted on our website.

How to Order Publications

You can order Indoor Air Quality publications from EPA's National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP):

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP)
P.O. Box 42419
Cincinnati, OH 45242-0419
Website: www.epa.gov/nscep
Phone:  1-800-490-9198
Fax:  (301) 604-3408
E-mail:  nscep@bps-lmit.com

NSCEP operates a Toll-free phone service for EPA Publication Assistance with live customer service representative assistance Monday through Friday from 9:00am-5:30pm eastern time.  Voice Mail is available after operating hours.  You can fax or e-mail your publication requests.  For technical assistance with NSCEP web pages, write to: nscep_nepis.tech@epa.gov   Please use the EPA Document Number, which is usually bolded or highlighted, when ordering from NSCEP.

How Do I Get the Files to Print Radon Publications?

EPA is offering print-ready files of the English versions of our A Citizen's Guide to Radon, the Home Buyer's and Seller's Guide to Radon, and the Consumer's Guide to Radon Reduction  to assist you in providing radon publications for your special events or conferences.  These three publications are in PC format in the program Adobe Pagemaker 6.5+   These CDs are complete and press-ready (including images and fonts).  To request a CD or for more information on this offer, write to Charles Gasque Gasque.Charles@epa.gov or call (202) 343-9117.

You can purchase large volume quantities of these three publications from the American Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists (AARST), see www.aarst.org/bookstore.shtml exiting EPA for more details.

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