National Radon Action Month: San Juan Basin Public Health to offer workshops, radon test kits

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Special to The PREVIEW

January is National Radon Action Month, and San Juan Basin Public Health (SJBPH) and Colorado State University Extension office will hold free radon testing workshops and provide free radon kits to participants.

Approximately half of Colorado homes have radon gas levels that exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s action level. In Colorado, radon is estimated to cause 500 lung cancer deaths each year. Radon gas has no odor or taste, is not visible and occurs naturally in the soil. Radon enters homes and buildings through small openings. The U.S. surgeon general lists radon exposure as the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States.

The Colorado State Board of Health has declared January as Radon Action Month and state environmental officials hope residents will take the time to test their homes.

“The best protection against radon is to test in your home, and January is the ideal time to test because radon is more likely to enter a home and stay there during the coldest months of the year” said Brian Devine, air and water quality program manager for SJBPH.

Radon workshops will be held on the following dates:

• Jan. 17, 6 p.m., Archuleta County Extension office, 344 U.S. 84, Pagosa Springs.

• Jan. 18, 11 a.m., SJBPH Durango Office, Larkspur Training Room, 281 Sawyer Drive, Durango.

• Jan. 24, 10 a.m., Pine River Library, 395 Bayfield Center Drive, Bayfield.

• Jan. 29, 10 a.m., Archuleta County Extension office, 344 U.S. 84, Pagosa Springs.

• Jan. 31, 5:30 p.m., SJBPH Durango Office, Larkspur Training Room, 281 Sawyer Drive, Durango.

Workshop participants will receive as many free short-term radon test kits as they need and the confidence to use them correctly. Preregistration is strongly encouraged; individuals can preregister for a workshop by emailing their name and address to eh@sjbpublichealth.org. More information can be found at https://sjbpublichealth.org/radon/.