--- title: Rising Levels of Toxic Gas Found in Homes Near Fracking Sites description: Dangerous levels of radon brings EPA to consider federal regulations on fracking canonical: https://time.com/3815291/rising-levels-toxic-gas-fracking-sites/ author: NBC News article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-09T15:08:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T06:16:24.139Z article:section: Health og:title: Rising Levels of Toxic Gas Found in Homes Near Fracking Sites og:description: Dangerous levels of radon brings EPA to consider federal regulations on fracking og:url: https://time.com/3815291/rising-levels-toxic-gas-fracking-sites/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc322b9187ea5fee5/6987ea4b5f570fc307b190e6/539658365-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 539658365 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rising Levels of Toxic Gas Found in Homes Near Fracking Sites twitter:description: Dangerous levels of radon brings EPA to consider federal regulations on fracking twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc322b9187ea5fee5/6987ea4b5f570fc307b190e6/539658365-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rising Levels of Toxic Gas Found in Homes Near Fracking Sites by [NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Apr 9, 2015 3:08 PM UTC  A hydro fracking tower used for gas drilling in Pennsylvania. A hydro fracking tower used for gas drilling in Pennsylvania.Getty Images by [NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Apr 9, 2015 3:08 PM UTC Levels of radon, a cancer-causing, radioactive gas, have been rising measurably in Pennsylvania since the [controversial practice of fracking](http://investigations.nbcnews.com/%5Fnews/2013/04/07/17616990-disputes-over-environmental-impact-of-fracking-obscure-its-future) started there, researchers reported Thursday. The study cannot directly link fracking with the raised radon levels. But whatever is going on, residents need to be aware of the rising levels of the gas and take action to get it out of their homes, the researchers say. Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S., killing an estimated 21,000 people a year. The odorless, invisible gas is produced naturally from many types of rocks, and many people who have bought… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/could-fracking-raise-lung-cancer-risk-n338146?cid=par-time-article%5F20141002) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3815291/rising-levels-toxic-gas-fracking-sites/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3815291/rising-levels-toxic-gas-fracking-sites/"},"headline":"Rising Levels of Toxic Gas Found in Homes Near Fracking Sites","datePublished":"2015-04-09T15:08:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:16:24.139Z","description":"Dangerous levels of radon brings EPA to consider federal regulations on fracking","url":"https://time.com/3815291/rising-levels-toxic-gas-fracking-sites/","keywords":["toxins","Environment"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc322b9187ea5fee5/6987ea4b5f570fc307b190e6/539658365-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc322b9187ea5fee5/6987ea4b5f570fc307b190e6/539658365-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"539658365","caption":"fracking-power-plant","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/toxins/","name":"toxins"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3815291/rising-levels-toxic-gas-fracking-sites/","name":"Rising Levels of Toxic Gas Found in Homes Near Fracking Sites"}}]}] ```