January is National Radon Action Month
2008 is now upon us and it couldn’t be a better time to take the necessary steps to make your home a healthier place. Many people are setting resolutions to lose weight, eat healthier, be kinder to the environment or give more to charity. With great goals like these, chances are, your resolution list doesn’t contain the item "check home for radon", but it should! January is National Radon Action Month, and we’re excited to be able to share some information with you to help make your home air safer to breathe, and to put your mind at ease in the coming year. Throughout the month, we’ll be publishing posts to this blog surrounding different radon topics to help spread the word about the importance of radon testing in your home.
Radon testing is a topic that doesn’t get as much widespread coverage as it should. By now, most everyone has heard about the dangers of carbon monoxide, and many buildings are required to have at least one carbon monoxide detector to warn of hazardous conditions and prevent illness and death. However, it’s much less common to hear about radon testing kits, and many people aren’t even aware of what radon is, how it affects our health, and what we can do about it. In actuality, radon is quite common and should be monitored just as carbon monoxide is. Thankfully, with the establishment of Radon Action Month, more and more people are being empowered with the information needed to take control of their home air safety and, ultimately, their health.
The Bad News: Radon is an odorless, colorless, tasteless gas which easily goes undetected until it’s too late. This ’silent killer’ claims approximately 20,000 lives each year in the United States alone, and is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers, according to the Environmental Protection Agency Radon site. If more people were made aware of the simple ways they can assess whether there’s radon existing in their home, and the ways to eliminate it completely, this number could drop drastically.
The good news: radon is a completely preventable health risk. Testing is simple and inexpensive. Treatment is readily available and can eliminate radon problems in your home indefinitely!
In the coming weeks, you will be armed with a wealth of radon information, from testing kits to symptoms, community programs to treatment and prevention. All we ask is that you put your health first, and spread the word about proper radon care to your neighbors and friends. The more people that can be made aware of the dangers of radon, the more we can help prevent further lives from being taken by this hazardous, invisible toxin.
Until our next entry, feel free to check out the EPA’s radon website to learn more about radon and how you can help.
