New York Assessment of Radon Exposure Concern

Summary: The New York State Department of Health (DOH) and Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) assessed a potential exposure concern at a daycare.

Radon test kit.

NYS DOH is providing outreach to promote safe siting of early care and education centers. The outreach resulted in experts in environmental radiation protection contacting Choose Safe Places for Early care and Education (CSPECE) project coordinators about a daycare facility. The experts found the facility to be near a property where radium is a contaminant of concern. Because radon is a radioactive decay product of radium, the experts asked if radon testing had been completed at the facility. Given the concern for potential exposure at the daycare facility, the project coordinators immediately notified OCFS.

OCFS notified the facility’s provider of a concern for potential radon exposure and recommended radon sampling. The provider conducted radon testing within the daycare facility and shared the results with OCFS and DOH.

The results were well below the Environmental Protection Agency’s action level and did not show a concern for radon exposures at the daycare facility. The CSPECE project facilitated the ability to quickly rule out radon exposures as a concern for this daycare facility.

Page last reviewed: August 11, 2021