AUGUSTA, Maine — It's an odorless, invisible gas that comes from the ground. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer and there are no testing requirements in Maine schools.
There's a new push in Augusta to change that.
A public hearing was held Tuesday for LD 1079 which would require public schools to test for radon.
There is no way to detect radon unless you test for it.
Some asking at the hearing, what can be done about radon, if it's detected?
"Mitigation is essentially a process where you would take a pipe you would put it down below the slab," said Christy Crocker of the Maine Indoor Air Quality Council. The goal is to catch those radon gases in the pipe before they can permeate up into the building."
The Maine CDC's Radon Control Program recommends ground level classrooms are tested at least every 5 years.