a052  0440  28 Apr 89
PM-Public Citizen-Radon,0264
Consumer Group Gets Money For Recommended Kits
    WASHINGTON (AP) - The consumer group Public Citizen is getting 50
cents on the sale of each home-testing kit for radon from two
companies it is recommending as the best, The Washington Post
reported today.
    Bob Dreyfuss, a spokesman for the Ralph Nader-affiliated group,
admitted Public Citizen is accepting the money but told the Post
suggestions of a link between the payments and the favorable ratings
are ''totally without even the slightest foundation.''
    Public Citizen is an umbrella organization for several consumer
groups. One of those groups, Buyers Up, recommended the kits produced
by Radon Testing Corp. of America and Teledyne Isotops, Dreyfuss
said.
    According to Dreyfuss, Buyers Up tested seven radon-testing kits
from the nation's largest manufacturers last year and asked all of
the firms to contribute to Buyers Up or Public Citizen, both
non-profit groups.
    Dreyfuss told the Post it was only coincidence that the only firms
to offer a percentage of their sales were those that won
recommendations.
    The National Consumer Coalition, a group of 33 conservative consumer
and public policy groups, has joined firms that were rated poorly by
Buyers Up in calling the arrangement a kickback.
    ''I suppose that there could be some better way of funding it,''
Dreyfuss said of the testing program. ''But we don't have any
regrets. They're seizing on this as a way to try to discredit us.''
    Radon is a colorless, odorless radioactive gas that forms naturally
from decay in the ground and can seep into homes.
    
 
AP-NY-04-28-89 0724EDT
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