January is National Radon Action Month and the American Lung Association is urging people to help save lives by testing their homes for radon and take steps to mitigate it if high levels are detected. Washington County Environmental Health Director Jason Taylor shares the process for testing, “There are short term and long term tests for radon, we do sell short term kits in our office, they run fifteen dollars for a test. That includes the test kit, the postage back to the lab and the lab testing, so everything is included in that fifteen dollars. They recommend that you should test your home every two to three years because as things change in the soil, with small earth quakes and things, new cracks form so then if your home maybe two years ago didn’t have radon, it’s possible that it has it now.”  You can’t see, smell or taste radon, but it could be present at a dangerous level in your home. 

Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers in America and claims the lives of about 21,000 Americans each year. In fact, the EPA and the U.S. Surgeon General urge all Americans to protect their health by testing their homes, schools and other buildings for radon.