WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Safety Council's Radon Awards Ceremony, held tonight at the National Press Club, will recognize individuals and organizations for their contributions to reducing deaths from radon. Radon, a colorless, odorless and tasteless natural gas, is our nation's second leading cause of lung cancer, after smoking. Radon is linked to about 21,000 cancer deaths each year. It is estimated that residents of one in every 15 homes are exposed to unsafe levels of radon.

At tonight's ceremony, National Safety Council president and CEO Janet Froetscher will deliver opening remarks and award the winners of the NSC's 2009 National Radon Poster Contest, recognizing young people for their artistic efforts to educate the public about the importance of testing for radon. 2009 poster contest winners include:

1st place: Shana Stone, age 10, grade 6, Good Hope, Ga.
2nd place: Raquel Goldman, age 13, grade 8, Hollywood, Fla.

Call for Papers
19th National Radon Training Meeting
Sept 20-23, 2009, St. Louis, Missouri

The E-25 Committee on Radon needs your help in identifying topics for sessions and training, including speakers, that would be of interest to the state radon programs. Early planning is needed so that we can provide you, the state radon workers, and other interested parties with early information about the content of the meeting.

The December 2008 issue of the CRCPD's Radon Bulletin is now available.

The Bulletin includes a report on the National Radon Training Conference, information about the Maine Radon Program, publication of suggested state regulations for radon, radon activities in Pennsylvania, the legislative successes of the Kansas Radon Program, announcement of the Region 7 Radon Stakeholders Meeting, the Living Healthy and Green campaign, and two memorial articles about Dave Chase.

To view the December 2008 Radon Bulletin please visit: http://www.crcpd.org/radon/Radon_Bulletin/Dec2008RB.pdf.

On Friday, December 5, 2008 CRCPD E-25 Chair Bill Bell and EPA's Susie Shimek held a session titled Radon and Schools at the 9th Annual Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Symposium. The slides can be downloaded below in PDF format.

Slides from other sessions are available on the Symposium website.

The 18th National Radon Training Conference and 2008 International Radon Symposium were held in Las Vegas, Nevada this year from September 14-17. Highlights from the joint sessions include:

• Keynote by Rich Guimond, Rear Admiral, US Public Health Service (retired), Current Vice President, Carrier Corporation, on the founding of the Radon Program and the path ahead.

• Launch of the RadonLeaders.org web portal by CRCPD, AARST, and EPA leadership.

• Premier of the Sock it to Radon media campaign and announcement of the Radon Video Contest Winner.

• New partnerships making progress on RRNC.

The agendas from both national meetings are available here.

The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD) held its 40th National Conference on Radiation Control in Greensboro, North Carolina from May 19-22, 2008. The US EPA presented a poster at the Conference on the Radon Leaders Saving Lives Campaign, a Campaign run in partnership between AARST, CRCPD, and US EPA.

The 2008 International Radon Symposium and 18th National Radon Training Conference are fast approaching. AARST, CRCPD, and US EPA will build on the Radon Leaders Saving Lives Campaign launched last year, sharing strategies and tools to meet the goal of doubling the number of lives saved from radon-induced lung cancer in the next five years. We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas in September! 

Radon at Zephyr Cove Elementary School is back down to acceptable levels, and the Lake Tahoe school will open for the fall semester on Wednesday.

The Douglas County School District received a letter from the state Department of Health and Human Services saying that all test results in the school were half the radon limit on Aug. 11, the deadline to determine if students would attend Zephyr Cove this year.

Zephyr Cove long has had issues with the gas, partly because of the numerous crawl spaces and additions. The Douglas County School District was one of the first in the state to test for radon in 1989 when levels reached 25 picocuries per liter. Under normal conditions, it was the equivalent of smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day, according to a consultant.

School district Superintendent Carol Lark said a group of volunteer scientists arrived at Zephyr Cove to help mitigate the radon.