Meeting Tonight to Discuss Radon Concerns At Trahan School

will meet with the parents of students at the Thursday evening to discuss elevated levels of radon detected when the school department conducted spot testing at the school earlier this year.

 According to O'Connor, the school department conducted voluntary testing at three Tewksbury schools; the , the and the Trahan, earlier this year. While radon levels at the North Street and Wynn Middle Schools were found to be within acceptable ranges, two of the 11 test sites at the Trahan returned results that exceeded acceptable levels recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency for public school buildings.

Radon is a clear, odorless radioactive gas that is formed as a by-product of the normal, radioactive decay process of the element uranium. Studies have shown a link between breathing high concentrations of radon gas, and incidences of lung cancer.

According to the website "Mass. Radon Information," radon is a Class A carcinogen and is considered to be the second leading cause of lung cancer.

According to O'Connor, the voluntary testing initiated by the school department earlier this year found that two classrooms at the Trahan had radon levels higher than the EPA's recommended guideline of  four picocuries per liter of air (4pCi/L). One classroom tested at over 16pCi/L and the other tested at over 6pCi/L.

O'Connor cautioned, however, that the EPA's recommended radon levels for public buildings such as elementary schools were very stringent, and that household radon testing commonly indicates radon levels much higher than 4pCi/L.

"Someone might think that the cut-off is four and 16 is very high," O'Connor said. "But it is not uncommon, if you were to test your house, you could see levels in the hundreds that would come in."

The school department, however, was concerned enough by the test results that it contacted the Mass. Dept. of Public Health, and asked the state's Radon Officer, William Bell, to conduct further testing at the Trahan.

Bell's subsequent testing found that radon levels in the two classrooms had dropped below 4pCi/L, but that three other areas in the school tested higher than the state recommendations. Those three areas, according to O'Connor, were the principal's office, a teacher's work room and a small work room adjacent to one of the classrooms.

Tewksbury schools have arranged for Bell's office to continue testing at the Trahan throughout the remainder of the school year, and contracted with the state to conduct more comprehensive testing throughout the school system next winter.

According to Bell, "the most optimum time to test is during the winter," O'Connor said. "In December or January, during heating season when radon is more easily detected, you get more accurate readings on what the true radon levels are in buildings."

However, a notice was sent home with Trahan students on Wednesday announcing that O'Connor and Bell will host an informational session Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. at the Trahan. Bell will be present with brochures and information on radon and radon testing. O'Connor described Bell as "probably the most knowledgeable person in the state when it comes to radon."

Over the next several weeks, Bell's office will be installing more sophisticated testing equipment in the Trahan, O'Connor said.

"That way we can start getting an indication of whether it is a narrow concentration or a wider disbursement of radon throughout the building," O'Connor said. "We are going to be paying very close attention to what (Bell) is doing. He is going to provide us with a lot of support."