The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering regulating radon, a naturally occurring soil gas dissolved in drinking water, because it poses a lung cancer risk. Benefits and costs of compliance are estimated for 29 water systems with radon above the proposed maximum contaminant level. The estimated cancer risk is three times higher than assumed by EPA, making it likely that a national regulatory standard of 300 picocuries per liter of water would pass a cost-benefit test. Site specific estimates of compliance costs are also substantially greater than EPA estimates. Nevertheless, the estimated cost per avoided death is only about $1 million.
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