Radon: New Rules & Regs by Jeffrey G. Gilmore and Karen E. Harrison Recent discoveries of high levels of radon gas in many homes in the Northeast have led the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to propose rule-making on radon in drinking water, and to issue guidelines on radon detection and elimination. Radon gas forms when uranium and radium deposits, which are found naturally in soil, decay. According to A. James Barnes, deputy administrator of the EPA, radon contamination may be responsible for nearly 20,000 lung cancer deaths each year. The EPA estimates that up to 12 percent of the homes in the U.S. have unsafe radon levels. In fact, tests for radon are now frequently conducted prior to the sale or
