MURRIETA, Calif. -- High school students in Murrieta are making headlines with the results of their science project.

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While doing an experiment on the radioactive gas radon, the students from Vista Murrieta High School in Riverside County found that homes in Murrieta have more of the substance than residents thought.

Dan Litzenberg's chemistry class conducted the experiments, funded by a $10,000 grant.

This month, the students built radon detectors and placed them in their homes for about three weeks to measure the amount of radon there.

Many of the students found their homes had potentially dangerous radon amounts.

Radon is a cancer-causing natural radioactive gas that can't be seen, smelled or tasted, according to the EPA's Web site. Its presence in homes can pose a danger, as it is the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers, it states.

Litzenberg said more testing must be done to confirm the radon levels in these homes, and he said there are ways to lower the health risk if concentrations are high.

The Department of Homeland Security told Litzenberg they are very interested in the test results, saying they may add the student data to its own studies, and send a federal official to a special presentation taking place Wednesday night at Vista Murrieta.