One in five Morgantown homes have high levels of radon. Get yours tested.
By Mary Wade Triplett
Building a new home? The Environmental Protection Agency has some suggestions on how to protect it from unsafe levels of radon. That's especially important in Monongalia County, where 1 in 5 homes have high levels of radon, compared to the national average of 1 in 15.
But even if you are living in an older home, there are still steps you can take to protect your family from radon. The first one is to have your home tested. The EPA encourages all homeowners to test their houses for radon.
Environmental Health staff members at the Monongalia County Health Department are nationally board-certified to conduct radon testing. A staff member will come to your home and leave a continuous monitoring device for 48 hours, and then return to collect it and read the results.
If the test shows radon levels to be 4.0 pCi/L, or picocuries per liter, or higher, mitigation can be done that will make your home safer. The average cost of mitigation is $1,500.
While every home should be tested for radon at least every two years—and more often after a renovation, mitigation or certain other occurrences—residents of Morgantown and surrounding areas should really heed this advice.
Why is radon bad? It is the second-leading cause of lung cancer after smoking cigarettes. About 21,000 deaths occur each year from radon-induced lung cancer. And smokers who have a high radon content in their homes are even in more danger.
Radon can be a problem year-round, but once the cold rolls around during the winter, houses tend to be more closed-up with less ventilation, which can make a high radon situation even worse. It's no coincidence that January is National Radon Action Month, which is a great time to highlight the dangers of radon as well as the simple measures to detect and protect homes against this gas.
The EPA released the National Radon Action Plan in November 2015. The plan represents a collaborative effort among 11 organizations dedicated to eliminating avoidable radon-induced lung cancer in the United States. Led by the American Lung Association, the plan requires cooperation to incorporate radon testing and mitigation in the purchasing, financing, constructing and renovating of homes and other buildings.
The goal is to reduce radon risk in 5 million homes and save 3,200 lives by 2020—which, of course, is just around the corner now. eopa ra
Do your part to help achieve that goal and keep your family safe at the same time. You can set up a test by calling MCHD Environmental Health at 304-598-5131 or you can request a test online.
And if you want to read more about radon, the EPA’s website is a wellspring of information, providing sites on radon in general as well as the National Radon Action Plan.
Do the research. Make the call. And rest easy in 2019 in what should be the cozy fortress that is your home.
But even if you are living in an older home, there are still steps you can take to protect your family from radon. The first one is to have your home tested. The EPA encourages all homeowners to test their houses for radon.
Environmental Health staff members at the Monongalia County Health Department are nationally board-certified to conduct radon testing. A staff member will come to your home and leave a continuous monitoring device for 48 hours, and then return to collect it and read the results.
If the test shows radon levels to be 4.0 pCi/L, or picocuries per liter, or higher, mitigation can be done that will make your home safer. The average cost of mitigation is $1,500.
While every home should be tested for radon at least every two years—and more often after a renovation, mitigation or certain other occurrences—residents of Morgantown and surrounding areas should really heed this advice.
Why is radon bad? It is the second-leading cause of lung cancer after smoking cigarettes. About 21,000 deaths occur each year from radon-induced lung cancer. And smokers who have a high radon content in their homes are even in more danger.
Radon can be a problem year-round, but once the cold rolls around during the winter, houses tend to be more closed-up with less ventilation, which can make a high radon situation even worse. It's no coincidence that January is National Radon Action Month, which is a great time to highlight the dangers of radon as well as the simple measures to detect and protect homes against this gas.
The EPA released the National Radon Action Plan in November 2015. The plan represents a collaborative effort among 11 organizations dedicated to eliminating avoidable radon-induced lung cancer in the United States. Led by the American Lung Association, the plan requires cooperation to incorporate radon testing and mitigation in the purchasing, financing, constructing and renovating of homes and other buildings.
The goal is to reduce radon risk in 5 million homes and save 3,200 lives by 2020—which, of course, is just around the corner now. eopa ra
Do your part to help achieve that goal and keep your family safe at the same time. You can set up a test by calling MCHD Environmental Health at 304-598-5131 or you can request a test online.
And if you want to read more about radon, the EPA’s website is a wellspring of information, providing sites on radon in general as well as the National Radon Action Plan.
Do the research. Make the call. And rest easy in 2019 in what should be the cozy fortress that is your home.
Mary Wade Triplett is the public information officer at Monongalia County Health Department.
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