BLAINE, Minn. – (Jan. 8, 2015) – A deadly, invisible substance could be in your home. In fact, two in five homes in Minnesota have dangerously high levels.
“It’s the number one cause of lung cancer in a non-smoker,” says Fire and Life Safety Educator Becky Booker, with the Spring Lake Park – Blaine – Mounds View Fire Department. “21,000 deaths in the United States annually.”
This substance is radon. Radon is a radioactive gas that comes from uranium deep in our soil. Every home has an entry point and the radon comes in and sits, especially when our windows are closed.
There is no safe level of radon. Your risk for lung cancer increases with higher levels of radon gas and increased exposure. But, there is something you can do.
Everyone can quickly and easily test their home to determine their risk level and if and additional steps need to be taken. The Minnesota Department of Health recommends that every house be tested for radon every 2 to 5 years.
The test is a simple envelope that you hang in the lowest livable area of your house. You let it hang for 3-7 days and mail it in, and within a few weeks, you will get your results.
Getting involved with radon and general home safety isn’t a step that every fire department takes, but the SBM Department believes that radon education is an important community safety step.
“The fire service is now taking an approach called all hazard risk reduction, says Booker. “It’s about doing everything in our power to keep you from having a fire or an injury.”
And for Booker, the radon risks have even more meaning. Before she joined the Fire Department, she worked 20 years in health year as an oncology nurse.
“I’ve seen many, many people die of lung caner, and if we can prevent one death, that’s big.”
So, if you run a test, and your levels are dangerously high, you should take action. A simple pipe run from your lowest level up through your roof can divert the dangerous gas away from yourself and your family. And in the realm of home repairs, it’s definitely not the most expensive repair.
“Anywhere from 1000 to 2,200 hundred [dollars]. It’s one of the [repairs] that aren’t so expensive to fix in a house,” says Booker. “But the impact is huge.”
Residents of Spring Lake Park, Blaine, or Mounds View can get a free radon test by scheduling a free home safety survey. Along with the radon test, the department will evaluated every room in your home for fire hazards of other unsafe conditions.
For those who live in other cities, you can purchase a test at any hardware store.
