NC Radon Data | NCDHHS

Radon Map

The following map shows the highest level of radon measured in each county. Data for this map was obtained from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention Environmental Public Health Tracking Network website:

Red shade: A county with at least one radon building test that measured at or above 4 picoCuries per Liter of air
Orange shade: A county with at least one radon building test that measured between 2 to 3.9 picoCuries per Liter of air
Grey shade: A county with at least one radon building test that measured at or below 1.9 picoCuries per Liter of air

NOTE: Radon data should not be used to predict whether a particular building or site will have elevated radon levels. Radon levels are highly site specific. The only way to know the radon level in a building is to conduct a radon test.

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Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Data

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2015 BRFSS Data Set - Do you know what radon gas is?

18.8% of Black Males surveyed replied yes
18% of Black Females surveyed replied yes
30.4% White males surveyed replied yes
27% of White females surveyed replied yes
13.8% of Hispanics surveyed replied yes

2019 BRFSS Data Set - Do you know what radon gas is?

36.5% of Black Males surveyed replied yes
38.1% of Black Females surveyed replied yes
70.9% of White males surveyed replied yes
60.4% of White females surveyed replied yes
14% of Hispanics surveyed replied yes

Own v. Rent Home

63.1% of those who own their home replied yes
31.5% of those who rent their home replied yes

Income Level

26.2% of those with an annual income of $15,000 or less replied yes
33.3% of those with an annual income of $15,000 to $24,999 replied yes
47.9% of those with an annual income of $25,000 to $34,999 replied yes
53.3% of those with an annual income of $35,000 to $49,999 replied yes
60.8% of those with an annual income of $50,000 to $74,999 replied yes
73.7% of those with an annual income of $75,000 or more replied yes

BRFSS Data: Have you tested your home for radon? Responses from Current Smokers in 2015 and 2019

Data collected by the North Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System reports that in both 2015 and 2019 only 20.1 percent of current smokers surveyed have tested their homes for radon.

https://schs.dph.ncdhhs.gov/data/brfss/2015/nc/risk/radontst.html

https://schs.dph.ncdhhs.gov/data/brfss/2019/nc/risk/radontst.html

Radon In NC Schools Testing Data 1989-1993

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NC School Radon Data Set

Based on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) conclusion that ". . . Schools may be a significant source of radon exposure for children and staff . . ." The Environmental Team of NC Radiation Protection Program (NCRP) conducted a pilot radon survey in 20 North Carolina schools during the summer of 1989 and again in the winter of 1990. The results of 400 measurements indicate that the radon levels in school classrooms are similar to regional radon levels found in residential surveys.

EPA has a specific testing strategy for schools If you test a school for radon you should follow these guidelines: test all frequently used rooms on and below the ground level - Because radon levels in schools have been found to vary significantly from room to room; test all frequently-occupied rooms in contact with the ground; and conduct tests in the cooler months of the year.

In 1990 and 1991, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) assisted many schools in North Carolina with purchasing radon canisters for the purpose of measuring classrooms in individual schools. However, test results were never compiled statewide by DPI. Individual schools' test results were retained by each school.

In 1997, North Carolina Radiation Protection (NCRP) retrieved most of the survey data from this previous project. In the spring of 1998, NCRP assisted with radon testing in an additional 35 school districts which had no test data. Five schools per district were tested.

Currently, survey data has been compiled from 1,102 schools, with 23,448 classrooms tested in 94 counties (at least one school per county) out of 100 counties in North Carolina.

The average radon level tested is: 1.79 pCi/l.

Based on NCRP analysis, approximately 11% of these tested classrooms had radon concentrations greater than 4 pCi/l.

Following is a summary of the data collected from those schools.

State	County	# Shools Tested	# Rooms Tested	# of Rooms >4 pCi/l	Minimum Level Recorded at a School	Maximum Level Recorded at a School	County Radon Average	County Radon Median
NC	Almance	3	44	7	0	9.5	1.6	0.8
NC	Alexander	10	50	1	0.3	4.5	1.5	1.4
NC	Alleghany	4	99	13	0	7.4	1.8	1.1
NC	Anson	1	4	0	0.5	0.7	0.6	0.6
NC	Ashe	8	289	10	0	7	1.3	0.9
NC	Avery	9	45	2	0.3	5.9	1	0.6
NC	Beaufort	16	314	2	0	4.7	0.8	0.5
NC	Bertie	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data
NC	Bladen	11	44	0	0	2.4	0.7	0.6
NC	Brunswick	11	10	0	0	0.3	0.2	0
NC	Buncombe	43	1788	188	0.2	22.2	1.8	1
NC	Burke	26	435	9	0	7.4	1.2	1
NC	Cabarrus	14	75	0	0	2.9	0.9	0.8
NC	Caldwell	24	786	171	0	15.3	2.4	1.8
NC	Camden	3	18	0	0.2	2.5	1
NC	Cateret	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data
NC	Caswell	8	80	41	0	64.1	6.8	4.2
NC	Catawba	43	1645	238	0	16.8	2	1.4
NC	Chatham	14	520	7	0	7.8	0.9	0.6
NC	Cherokee	12	43	0	0.3	2.4	1.1	0.9
NC	Chowan	4	19	0	0.3	1.6	0.6	0.6
NC	Clay	1	20	3	0.5	5.4	2	1.5
NC	Cleveland	16	93	16	0.3	18	2.3	1.4
NC	Columbus	19	71	1	0	4.4	0.6	0.3
NC	Craven	5	24	0	0.3	1.1	0.5	0.3
NC	Cumberland	67	2456	117	0	10.1	1.2	0.8
NC	Currituck	5	25	0	0.3	1.3	0.4	0.3
NC	Dare	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data
NC	Davidson	38	38	0	0.3	3.8	1.3	0.9
NC	Davie	12	210	44	0	26.8	2.9	2.2
NC	Duplin	2	292	5	0	6.2	0.8	0.6
NC	Durham	13	35	1	0	9.3	0.5	0
NC	Edgecombe	6	250	33	0	10	1.7	1.3
NC	Forsyth	49	2348	444	0	105	2.9	1.8
NC	Franklin	5	25	1	0.3	4.2	1.9	1.9
NC	Gaston	55	1803	123	0	17.7	1.5	1.1
NC	Gates	6	138	0	0.2	1.8	0.5	0.3
NC	Graham	2	39	13	0	15	2.9	0.6
NC	Granville	5	25	0	0.3	3.7	1.1	0.7
NC	Greene	6	142	0	0	3.9	0.7	0.5
NC	Guilford	15	155	1	0	5.6	0.6	0.4
NC	Halifax	9	160	6	0	11.1	1.4	1.3
NC	Harnett	20	88	0	0.3	4	0.8	0.5
NC	Haywood	14	51	0	0.3	3.4	1.1	0.8
NC	Henderson	4	100	16	0	7.8	1.9	1.5
NC	Hertford	7	262	0	0	3	0.4	0.2
NC	Hoke	7	347	0	0.2	3	0.9	1
NC	Hyde	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data
NC	Iredell	27	245	15	0	11.9	1.5	1.2
NC	Jackson	6	30	0	0.3	2.8	0.9	0.7
NC	Johnson	28	949	1	0.3	4.1	1.2	0.3
NC	Jones	3	35	4	0	6.4	1.3	0.5
NC	Lee	5	25	0	0.3	1.4	0.6	0.5
NC	Lenoir	18	274	8	0	23.5	1.2	0.9
NC	Lincoln	1	99	42	0.3	66.5	6.2	2.5
NC	Macon	11	82	16	0.5	16.3	2.9	2.3
NC	Madison	8	36	0	0.3	1.8	0.9	0.8
NC	Martin	5	25	0	0.3	1.9	0.6	0.6
NC	Mcdowell	13	725	253	0	32.9	3.9	2.5
NC	Mecklenburg	1	54	4	0	6.6	1.1	0.9
NC	Mitchell	7	35	0	0.3	1.6	0.5	0.3
NC	Montgomery	8	129	14	0	9.2	1.1	0
NC	Moore	6	25	0	0.3	2.8	0.9	0.7
NC	Nash	6	31	0	0.3	3.6	1.1	0.8
NC	New Hanover	5	24	0	0.3	0.8	0.4	0.3
NC	Northampton	4	62	3	0	6.6	1.5	1.4
NC	Onslow	1	19	0	0	3.6	0.9	0.8
NC	Orange	13	378	60	0	14.3	1.8	0.8
NC	Pamlico	3	20	0	0.3	0.8	0.4	0.3
NC	Pasquotank	1	20	0	0	0.7	0.1	0
NC	Pender	5	25	0	0.3	1.1	0.4	0.3
NC	Perquimans	4	40	0	0	1.8	0.6	0.6
NC	Persons	8	32	0	0.6	3.2	0.8	0.6
NC	Pitt	4	21	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data
NC	Polk	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data
NC	Randolph	14	274	10	0	7.8	1.2	0.9
NC	Richmond	5	25	0	0.3	2	0.8	0.6
NC	Robeson	1	12	0	0	2.8	1.3	1.3
NC	Rockingham	21	475	58	0	21.6	2	1.2
NC	Rowan	28	179	18	0	26.5	2.1	1.5
NC	Rutherford	5	25	0	0.3	2.7	1.1	1
NC	Sampson	11	72	1	0	4.9	0.9	0.5
NC	Scotland	1	79	0	0.3	3.9	1	0.9
NC	Stanly	5	25	0	0.3	2.6	0.9	0.8
NC	Stokes	15	211	42	0	11.4	2.3	1.6
NC	Surry	13	154	68	0	13.1	4.3	3.3
NC	Swain	4	24	1	0.3	5.7	1.2	1.1
NC	Transylvania	11	271	38	0	15.1	2.3	1.8
NC	Tyrrell	1	54	2	0.3	7.9	0.7	0.3
NC	Union	4	153	3	0	13.7	1	0.7
NC	Vance	16	425	36	0	13.2	1.3	0.4
NC	Wake	18	323	19	0	12.4	1.5	1.1
NC	Warren	1	38	8	0.7	48.4	4.9	1.3
NC	Washington	5	25	0	0.3	1.6	0.7	0.6
NC	Watauga	9	44	3	0.3	10.4	1.6	1.1
NC	Wayne	26	178	0	0.5	2.9	1	0.8
NC	Wilkes	19	786	163	0	11.6	2.1	1.2
NC	Wilson	1	20	0	0	2.2	1	1
NC	Yadkin	14	385	97	0	23.6	3.1	2.1
NC	Yancey	10	286	7	0	7.9	1.1	0.8