AARST_Radon_Reporter_Q32025_Single

12 | SEPTEMBER 2025 Radon exposure in buildings is the second leading cause of lung cancer and results in more than 21,000 deaths each year. Radon is one of the most comprehensively investigated human carcinogens: laboratory studies have documented that an alpha particle (e.g., from radon decay products polonium-218 and polonium-214) can cause both single- and double-strand DNA breaks and can produce indirect genotoxic and nongenotoxic e ects on both traversed and neighboring non-traversed cells. i Radon knows no boundaries: high radon levels have been found in all states and nearly every county. Exposure a ects the health of people in farmhouses and townhouses, new homes and old homes, one-story buildings and multi-story buildings, regardless of foundation or structure type. By reducing air leakage in buildings, radon mitigation conserves energy, lowering costs for property management and occupants. The Business Case for Action on Radon Is Substantial The return on investment from the benefit of avoided lung cancer death over the cost of radon mitigation is significant. • EPA’s recent cost-bene t analysis estimates that testing and mitigating 100,000 homes for radon over 20 years will prevent 3900-9900 cancer fatalities with a return on investment (ROI) of $2.72-$4.54 assuming a seven percent discount rate. ii This means that for every dollar invested in mitigation yields bene ts in terms of avoided medical expense and deaths valued at $2.72-$4.54. This range compares favorably with the ROI of $.83 to $2.52 for smoke cessation. (Source: EPA Return on Investment Presentation, 2024) Radon-induced lung cancer costs the health sector and the economy $8.6 billion annually. • The National Cancer Institute estimated the medical cost of a lung cancer case to be $201,000 per patient per year in 2020 based on Medicare data, iii encompassing initial ( rst year after diagnosis), end-of-life (year before cancer death) and continuing (the time in between) medical care plus oral prescription drugs. Medicare is funded by taxpayer contributions, premiums and federal appropriations. • The estimated economic loss caused by each lung cancer case each year per patient was $210,000 in 2008 , iv including forgone earnings for employed individuals and imputed forgone earnings for informal caregiving. This loss of income a ects the wellbeing of families, harms the larger economy, and causes increased dependence on bene t programs. • EPA estimated in 2003 that there are 21,000 annual lung cancer deaths from radon (with an uncertainty range of 8,000 to 45,000). v • A death toll of only 21,000 is a fairly conservative estimate two decades later, after considering growth in the population vi and housing stock vii plus the high proportion of energy-efficient homes: POLICY The Business Case: Radon As an Important and Overlooked Public Health Problem Population Housing Units Radon-Induced Lung Cancer 2003 290,207,933 121,525,460 21,000 2024 340,110,988 146,770,711 ? Growth (#) +49,903,055 +25,245,251 ? Growth (%) +17% +21% ? CHANGES SINCE 2003