
		California Department of Health Services Indoor Air Quality Program
	SIERRA RADON STUDY with funding from U.S. EPA Project Description Study Documents Contact Investigators Useful Links Related Publications Project Description The California Department of Health Services (DHS) is currently conducting a study to determine residence radon levels in the Sierra region, a potential high-exposure area in California. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas which, at high levels, has been proven to cause serious health problems such as lung cancer. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that between 3,000 and 32,000 people die every year in the U.S. as a result of exposure to radon gas in their homes. The lung cancer risk due to radon exposures is known to be 3 to 10x higher for smokers than for non-smokers. The Sierra Radon Study entails measurements in 1000 homes. Monitors are being placed in residences for 12 months to average indoor concentrations. The radon monitor being used in the survey is a diffusion-based track detector. It records the alpha tracks of the radon decay products and is produced by Radon Environmental Monitoring, Inc. (http://www.remradon.com). The selection of study homes is based on the population distribution within the region. This will allow the results to be used to project radon exposure risks for the counties included in the study, which include: Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Inyo, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Neveda, Placer, Tulare, and Tuolumne. Study Documents (documents in Acrobat format) Instructions for Radon Monitors Survey Questionnaire Home Diagrams for Questionnaire Consent Form In order to view the PDF version of the bill text documents, you need the Acrobat viewer; if you do not have one, download a viewer from Adobe. For further information on the study, call (510) 540-2469. or E-mail to the Investigators: Kai-Shen Liu Jed Waldman Feng Tsai Useful Links: General Information Indoor Air Quality - U.S. EPA Radon Publications California Radon Risk Map Health Effects Health Effects of Exposure to Radon: BEIR VI - Executive Summary RADON: A Physician's Guide - The Health Threat with a Simple Solution Measurements National Radon Proficiency Program National Radon Proficiency Program - RPP Documents The National Radon Proficiency Program - Measurement Device Manufacturers Radon Risk and Risk Reduction Consumer's Guide to Radon Reduction Radon Mititgation Standards Model Standards and Techniques for Control of Radon in New Residential Buildings Radon Research Projects Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL)-High Radon Project Columbia University -- Radon Project Radon in Drinking Water Proposed Drinking Water Standards for Radon Radon in Drinking Water - Multimedia Mitigation Program Drinking Water Priority Rulemaking: Radon Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water NAS Report on Radon in Drinking Water Related Publications: Survey of Indoor Radon Concentrations in California Elementary Schools, report by Zhou J, Liu KS, and Waldman J, May 1998, CA Department of Health Services, Indoor Air Quality Section. The Distribution of Lifetime Cumulative Exposures to Radon for California Residents, Liu KS, Chang YL, Hayward SB, Gadgil AJ and Nero AJ, 1993, Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology. 3:165-179. Annual Average Radon Concentrations in California Residences, Liu KS, Hayward SB, Girman JR, Moed BA and Huang FY, 1991, J. Air and Waste Mgmt. Assoc. 41:1207-1212. To Contact the Indoor Air Quality Program: DHS-IAQ Program 2151 Berkeley Way (EHLB) Berkeley, CA 94704-1011 IAQ Assistance Line: (510) 540-2476 Fax: 510-540-3022 E-mail: IAQ Staff