Employers in regions with high recorded levels of radioactive radon gas will be targeted by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland during the coming year as part of a special drive to raise awareness in the workplace about the gas, which is responsible for between 150 and 200 lung-cancer deaths annually.
Special awareness-raising roadshows by the institute will concentrate on areas with high radon readings with dates already planned for Mayo, Galway, Tralee, Waterford and Kilkenny.
Research by TNS MRBI conducted on behalf of the institute found 76 per cent of all Irish people were aware of radon gas. Some 47 per cent were concerned about it, yet only a "tiny percentage" of people had come forward in the last 20 years to have their homes tested.
The RPII estimates 91,000 homes around the country have unsafe levels, affecting an estimated 250,000 people. Radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas given off by the depletion of uranium in soil and rocks, is believed to cause between nine per cent and 12 per cent of all lung-cancer deaths around the world.
Dr Tony Colgan, director of the RPII's advisory services, said the focus of the roadshows over the next year would be on workplaces, where many people spend long periods exposed to radon every day. The first will be held over three days in Ballina, Co Mayo, beginning today.
