Galway Bay fm newsroom - The latest findings from the Tellus Programme has confirmed high levels of radon across East Galway.
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas with no colour, taste or smell which can increase the risk of developing lung cancer.
Outdoors, radon quickly dilutes to harmless concentrations but the gas can accumulate to high concentrations within an enclosed space, such as a house, if not detected.
East Galway has been long recognised as a radon hotspot, due to extensive areas of fractured limestone.
The Tellus Programme is working with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to further improve understanding of the distribution of radon.
Minister of State for Natural Resources and Galway West TD Sean Kyne says up to two hundred and fifty cases of radon-related lung cancer are diagnosed in Ireland each year.
