CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, Ill. (WAND) -- In honor of National Radon Action Month, the Champaign-Urbana Health District (CUPHD) is encouraging citizens to test their homes for the presence of radon.
CUPHD announced that radon gas causes more than 20,000 lung cancer deaths in the country each year. It says 48 percent of homes tested in Champaign County have high radon levels.
"The only way to know if you have radon in your home is by testing. It is odorless and tasteless and naturally occurring in our geology," said Program Coordinator Michael Flanagan.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, exposure to indoor radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers and the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States.
Flanagon says Champaign is one of the areas that has high levels of radon.
"They've done a lot of passive radon mitigation systems which is basically put in some active systems that requires a fan. Basically you are pumping the air of the bottom of your house out through the top to reduce the levels of radon and you can also seal your basement," he added.
He says the $5 testing kit is simple and only takes 48 hours to complete.
"Radon is again a very unknown thing and getting a test is a very inexpensive process. It will save a lot of heartache down the road with a $5 test versus thousands of dollars of chemotherapy later on."
Test kits may be picked up at the Environmental Health Division of CUPHD located at 201 West Kenyon Road in Champaign. The kits are available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m to 4 p.m.
