New Haven Health Department Providing Free Home Radon Test Kits,
Encourages Testing for this Silent Killer
January is National Radon Action Month
NEW HAVEN, Conn.—The New Haven Health Department is distributing free radon home testing kits and educational materials to New Haven residents during the month of January. To receive a radon test kit, while supplies last, residents should contact 203-946-8174 or visit the department which is located on the ninth floor of 54 Meadow Street. The New Haven Health Department is working with the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a nationwide campaign to educate Americans about the dangers of radon exposure and to encourage them to take action to protect their homes and families.
Radon is a naturally occurring, invisible, odorless, tasteless gas that is dispersed in outdoor air, but which can reach harmful levels when trapped in buildings. Scientists have long been concerned about the health risks of radon, but there has never been such overwhelming evidence that exposure to elevated levels of radon causes lung cancer in humans.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Surgeon General’s office estimate radon is responsible for more than 20,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the United States. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. after smoking and the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. “However,” says Ms. Roslyn Hamilton, Acting Director of Health, “because you can’t see or smell radon, people tend to downplay the health effects and ignore the possibility that there might be a silent killer in their homes. Testing homes for elevated levels of radon is simple and inexpensive”.
The New Haven Health Department urges New Haven residents to take action during this year’s National Radon Action Month by testing their homes for radon. Radon poses a serious threat to our communities health but there is a straightforward solution. For more information on radon, radon testing and mitigation, and radon-resistant new construction, call the New Haven Health Department-Bureau of Environmental Health at 946-8174 or visit EPA’s National Radon Action Month Web site at www.epa.gov/radon/nram.
For more information on getting a radon kit please contact Brian Wnek, Senior Sanitarian at the New Haven Health Department: (203) 946-6760, or bwnek@newhavenct.gov
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