The American Lung Association and the National Center for Healthy Housing have released a policy brief to raise awareness about the issue of radon in rental properties and encourage local and state officials to implement recommended policies to reduce radon-caused lung cancer in the United States.

The policy brief, titled Radon Risk Reduction Strategies in Rental Housing: Opportunities to Strengthen State and Local Policies (https://www.lung.org/getmedia/7431af99-c398-4777-aae6-888933e3e617/Radon-Risk-Reduction-Strategies-in-Rental-Housing.pdf and attached), highlights the need for additional state and local requirements to protect people who live in rental properties from radon. The report finds that while there has been an increase in federal action to address radon in rental properties in recent years, those policies only cover a fraction of the 48 million rental properties nationwide.

The recommended components for state and local policy action to protect tenants from radon-caused lung cancer include:
• Requiring disclosure to tenants of known radon levels and a warning statement of potential radon risks.
• Requiring radon testing according to national standards in 100% of ground-contact units and not less than 10% of all upper floor units.
• Requiring radon testing be performed by credentialed radon measurement professionals.
• Requiring mitigation in rental housing when radon levels are found to exceed EPA’s action level.

Please share this resource with your networks. We will look forward to continuing our work with the NRAP Leadership Council to address this critical health equity issue.