Research Articles
Radon Gas in Homes May Affect How Children's Brains Develop Attention. Boys Town Researchers Investigated
Reviewed by: Brittany Taylor, Ph.D.
Published: September 2026
Reading time: ~3 min
You may have heard that radon gas is dangerous. But did you know it might also affect how a child's brain develops?
Radon is a gas that forms naturally in the ground. It cannot be seen or smelled. It can seep into homes through cracks in floors and walls and build up to harmful levels. Many people breathe harmful radon every day and don’t know it. Researchers at Boys Town National Research Hospital wanted to know if home radon exposure could affect how children's brains handle attention. Their study was published in 2026 in the journal Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.
What is visuospatial attention?
Visuospatial attention is your brain's ability to pay attention to things you see and where they are. It is a key thinking skill. Kids with better visuospatial attention often do better in school.
What did the study do?
The team worked with 118 children and teens between ages 8 and 15. Each child completed an attention task during a magnetoencephalography (MEG) scan. MEG measures tiny magnetic signals produced by the brain. Outside of the scanner, children also answered questions about symptoms like trouble paying attention, forgetting things, and feeling like they can’t sit still. Each child's family also tested the radon levels in their home.
What did the researchers find?
Children who had higher radon levels in their homes showed different patterns of brain activity in key areas that help with attention. Those brain activity patterns predicted more symptoms like trouble paying attention.
The researchers said the results suggest that radon exposure may cause changes in how the brain's attention networks develop over time. They described this as possibly being a sign of the brain working harder to keep up.
What did the researchers say about what we still do not know?
The paper noted that even though we know other toxins can harm brain development, very little research has looked at how radon affects attention in children. This study was designed to start filling that gap. The team just started a new study where kids’ home radon and brain activity will be measured several times over three years. This will help the team understand if radon affects how each person’s brain changes as they grow.
Want to read the research yourself?
Bonney RA, Greenwood SL, Thompson D, Clarke-Smith MN, Rasmussen SC, Parolek GE, Smith OV, Pulliam HR, Taylor BK. "Chronic home radon exposure impacts the development of oscillatory dynamics serving visuospatial attention." Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 2026.
Published Article
The article of record on the publisher's website. DOI: 10.1121/10.0042364|
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