The Champaign Health District is working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a nationwide campaign to educate Americans about the dangers of radon exposure and to encourage them to take action to protect their homes and families. The Health District is promoting radon awareness during National Radon Action Month in January.
Radon levels in Champaign County are well above the national average. Radon is a naturally occurring, invisible, odorless, tasteless gas that is dispersed in outdoor air, but which can reach harmful levels when trapped in buildings. Scientists have long been concerned about the health risk of radon, but never before has there been such overwhelming proof that exposure to elevated levels of radon causes lung cancer in humans.
To help educate the citizens of Champaign County, the Health District has set up displays in the area. Libraries in St. Paris, Mechanicsburg and Urbana, as well as the Building Regulations Department and the county Community Center lobby will have brochures, plus a coupon for a free home radon test kit.
The U.S. EPA estimates that radon is responsible for more than 20,000 lung cancer deaths a year. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States after smoking and the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers.
Because you can’t see or smell radon, people tend to downplay the health effects and ignore the possibility that there might be a silent killer in their homes.
Testing homes for elevated levels of radon
Radon problems can be fixed by qualified contractors for a cost similar to that of many common home repairs such as painting or having a new water heater installed.
The Health District urges Champaign County residents to take action during this year’s National Radon Action Month by testing their homes for radon. Radon poses a serious threat to the community’s health, but there is a straightforward solution. For more information on radon, radon testing, mitigation and radon-resistant new construction, call the Health District at 937-484-1606 or visit www.champaignhd.com or visit EPA’s National Radon Action Month Website at www.epa.gov/radon/nram or the Ohio Department of Health Indoor Radon Program www.odh.ohio.gov.
