The Safe Drinking Water Act directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate drinking-water quality, including setting a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for radon, an acknowledged carcinogen, to restrict the exposure of the public.
The book presents a valuable synthesis of information of the total inhalation and ingestion risks of radon in public drinking water, including comprehensive reviews of data on the transfer of radon from water to air and on ambient levels of radon in the U.S. outdoors. It also presents a new analysis of a biokinetic model developed to determine the risks of ingestion of radon; the book also reviews both inhalation risks and the carcinogenesis process. The book includes discussions and example scenarios for quantifying the reduction in health risk which might be achieved under a multimedia (water and air) mitigation program to reduce public exposure to radon.
This volume, reflecting research and analysis mandated by 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act, provides comment on a variety of methods to reduce radon entry into homes and the concentrations of radon in indoor air and in water. The information contained in this book is intended to provide information that EPA will need to set a new MCL, which EPA is required to set in 1999.