Keep your family safe from radon, the second leading cause of lung cancer. Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department (ELVPHD) wants you to know that January is National Radon Action Month. ELVPHD will have short term radon test kits, while supplies last, for people living in Burt, Cuming, Madison, and Stanton counties. The kits will be available for $7.00 plus sales tax starting January 3rd.
Radon is a natural gas in soil and rock that you cannot see or smell. It can enter your home through holes and cracks in the basement floor, walls, or from well water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends that homes with radon levels of 4 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) of air or more be mitigated. Last year, the average radon level in the health department’s service area was over 8 pCi/L, twice the safe amount.
Testing is easy and the winter months are the best time to test your home for radon. The test kit should be set up in the middle of a room in the lowest level of your home that you often spend time in. It should be within the normal breathing zone (2 to 6 feet from the floor). When the three day testing period is over, simply seal the kit with the supplied package and ship to the lab for testing.
Radon kits will be available while quantities last and can be picked up at the following health department office locations Monday – Friday from 8:00am to 4:30pm:
· ELVPHD Norfolk Office: 302 W Phillip Ave., Suite 100, Norfolk
· ELVPHD Wisner Office: 2104 21st Circle, Wisner
· ELVPHD Tekamah Office: 1121 S. 13th St., Tekamah
For more information please call 402-529-2233 or email mason@elvphd.org. Public health aims to make people and communities healthy and safe. In doing so, ELVPHD offers many services and programs to local residents and businesses of Burt, Cuming, Stanton and Madison Counties in northeast Nebraska. Visit us online today at: www.elvphd.org.