Dear Member of the National Resources, Agriculture, and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee:

Please support the Utah Department of Environmental Quality’s building block request for $50,000 of ongoing funding for the Utah Indoor Radon Program.

These are the facts:

1.     Radon is a carcinogen that is known to cause lung cancer. 

2.     Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer, second only to smoking according the the US Surgeon General.

Utah Department of Environmental Quality Radiation Control

3.     Over 1/3 of the houses in Utah have radon levels above the EPA action level of 4.

4.     The average radon levels based upon over 30,000 tests over 15 years is 5.3.

Elevated radon levels can

economically be fixed in one day and

thereby reducing the risk to lung cancer.

Most Utahans are unaware of radon or the possibility that radon could be prevail ant in their home.

The Utah Department of Environmental Quality Indoor Radon Program helps educate Utahans about the dangers of radon.  If approved, the requested funding will allow the program to continue to exist.  If not, the program could either be discontinued or its services will be severely limited.

Attached are two documents showing radon levels in your districts.