Minneapolis resident Gregory Wheeler tested his house for radon, and with his children living in the basement closest to the gas, he took action.
Wheeler contacted Hennepin County for further analysis, and then Healthy Homes, a city-run program, covered the cost of installation cost due to his income.
“Being a single father of four with low income, that’s why it made me feel so grateful I was able to get something in the house that was so beneficial,” Wheeler said.
In the U.S., radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in smokers and the leading cause of lung cancer outside non-smokers, according to the Minnesota Health Department.
Indoor Air Unit Supervisor at the Minnesota Department of Health Daniel Tranter said residents like Wheeler continue to be at risk of high levels of radon exposure. Minnesota has some of the highest radon levels in the country due to Minnesota soil having more uranium than average.
“We keep our homes closed up most of the year. Of course, we have long cold winters where we heat our houses, and then we have hot summers where our homes are closed up,” Tranter said. “So, it's how much is in the soil plus the fact that our homes are closed up most of the year.”
January was designated as Radon Testing Month because levels can be higher in the winter, as people keep their homes closed up and their heaters running, according to Alex Vollmer, Minneapolis Health Department’s Lead and Healthy Homes manager said.
All homes are susceptible to high radon, such as apartment buildings and older family homes, Tranter said. The only way to know is to test.
A kit is needed to test radon levels in homes. While Lead and Healthy Homes has run out of their supply, kits are still available from the Minnesota Health Department’s website or can be picked up in hardware stores, Alex Vollmer, Minneapolis Health Department’s Lead and Healthy Homes manager, said.
“So all you have to do is place the test kit, follow the directions for the details that it needs, like where the location was, where the test was performed, who's performing the test when it started and when it ended,” Vollmer said. “Then you can send it directly into the laboratory. So that's a huge benefit, just kind of makes it a lot easier to perform that test for yourself.”
Once a home testscomes back high for radon, contacting a specialist is the next step, Tranter said. A mitigation system can then be installed, with help from the Minnesota and Minneapolis health departments for lower-income communities.
Homes across Minnesota test high for radon with around 38% of homes in Hennepin County having levels over 4 pCi/L. The national indoor radon level average is 1.3 pCi/L, according to the U.S. Army.
Radon levels can change, so retesting at least every five years is important, Tranter said.
“Our data shows that about one or maybe up to two percent of homes get tested annually,” Tranter said. “If all homes were to test every five years, then you would see at least 20% of homes getting tested annually.”
