Media Release

For Immediate Release
Date: January 12, 2007

January is National Radon Action Month
Radon May Cause Up To 20,000 Deaths from Lung Cancer per Year in the U.S.

The US Surgeon General, US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Radon Program at the Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH) recommend that all homes be tested for radon. Radon is a cancer-causing natural radioactive gas that you can't see, smell or taste and is the most serious environmental cancer-causing agent to which the general public is exposed. Recent studies estimate that as many as 20,000 lung cancer deaths per year in the United States are attributable to radon.

If you smoke and your home has high radon levels, your risk of lung cancer is especially high.

In Rhode Island, over 23% of homes tested have radon above the US Environmental Protection Agency's action level.

Many homes have not been tested and may therefore be exposing families to harmful levels of radon gas. The only method of determining if your home contains high levels of radon is to conduct a test. If an elevated level of radon is found in your home, it can be corrected at a reasonable cost.

Test kits are available through most major home improvement centers and online from radon analytical laboratories. If you have any questions about radon test results or how to fix a high level, you may call HEALTH's Radon Program at (401) 222-2438, or visit our Radon website at http://www.health.ri.gov/environment/occupational/radon/index.php

For more information, visit:

EPA Website on Radon Action Month:
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/radon/index.html

EPA Website containing PSAs available for use by media: http://www.epa.gov/iaq/radon/rnpsa.html

Surgeon General's National Health Advisory on Radon: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/pressreleases/sg01132005.html

American Lung Association Fact Sheet on Radon: http://www.lungusa.org/site/apps/s/content.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=34706&ct=67121

National Safety Council Radon Site: (includes links to national poster contest winners) http://www.nsc.org/issues/radon/index.htm

National Safety Council Discount Coupon for Radon testing: http://www.nsc.org/issues/radon/radonkitcoupons_05.pdf