Recent reports on fracking and the Balcombe demonstration raise concerns over cost, the type of big fossil fuel companies involved and several environmental risks including greenhouse gas emissions, water table pollution and community disruption.

But one aspect of this increasingly controversial topic which hasn’t received much media attention is the prospective radioactive contamination risk from radon as a result of fracked shale gas.

Health minister Anna Soubry has told Labour MP Paul Flynn in a written answer that Public Health England (PHE, formerly the Health Protection Agency) “is preparing a report identifying potential public health issues and concerns, including radon (release/emissions) that might be associated with aspects of hydraulic fracturing (fracking)”.

A PHE report is due out for public consultation in the summer.

PHE is evaluating the potential risk of radon gas being pumped into people’s homes during domestic use. Unless the gas is stored for several days to allow radioactivity to naturally reduce, this is potentially very dangerous.

Radon is unquestionably the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. Radon released from its virtually-sealed underground locations will be in monatomic suspension but some of it may remain suspended in the gas and come out in our homes.

The public surely will demand the unadulterated facts on fracking. Public Health England’s forthcoming report is eagerly awaited.

Dr David Lowry, Stoneleigh, Surrey