CDPHE News: Coloradans Should Test Homes for Radon

 “Winter is a great time to test your home for radon,” said Chrystine Kelley, radon program manager for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “Testing your home for radon is simple, and works best when all the doors and windows are closed.”

 Governor John Hickenlooper proclaimed January as National Radon Action Month. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas responsible for hundreds of Colorado lung cancer deaths each year. The colorless, odorless, tasteless gas enters homes through cracks in the floor or spaces around utility pipes and accumulates unless properly mitigated. Long-term radon exposure is the leading cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers and the second leading cause of lung cancer in smokers.  

More Americans die from lung cancer than any other cancer. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment provides coupons for reduced-cost radon test kits. For more radon information and to get the coupon, visit Colorado.info. The website also lists contractors certified by the National Radon Proficiency Program to install systems to remove or mitigate radon. Colorado residents also can call the state’s Radon Hotline at 1-800-846-3986 or check with their local health department, county extension office or public health nurse for radon information. 

Prowers County Public Health and Environment has free test kits for residents of SE Colorado to use.  (Prowers, Bent, Baca, Kiowa counties)  We have also provided test kits to the Public Health Agencies in Baca, Bent, & Kiowa counties for distribution to the public.  

Keith Siemsen
Manager – Environmental Health
Prowers County Public Health and Environment
1001 S Main St Lamar, CO 81052O: 
719 336 8721 or 719 336 9763
C:  719 691 9869
ksiemsen@prowerscounty.net