Date Published: 12/31/2019 [Source]
January is National Radon Awareness Month. Radon is a radioactive gas that naturally occurs in soil or rock. Radon gas, if present where a home was built, may be able to seep into the home and cause long-term health issues. It will quickly be diluted to safe levels when it reaches the atmosphere, but if it is able to enter homes through openings in the foundation floor or walls, it can build up to unhealthy and unsafe levels.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer and the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. It is responsible for more than 20,000 lung cancer deaths in the United States each year, with more than 600 of those deaths thought to come in Michigan.
The only way to know for certain that radon is in the home is to test for it.
The Dickinson-Iron District Health Department has two types of radon test kits available for purchase: charcoal kits (short term) and alpha tracks (long term.)