Wolff also formed a local radon committee made up of city leaders, Realtors and bank representatives. Depending on the home, mitigation — sealing cracks and installing a fan to prevent the gas from entering the home — can cost between $800 and $1,200. The bank offered low-interest loans to homeowners to encourage mitigation, and several contractors earned their mitigation certification to take on the projects.
Although the researchers have not done any follow-up to see which homes were mitigated, Wolff estimates a few hundred residents did so, based on the number of crews she saw working around town. All of her staff members mitigated their homes, she said.
The test kits were handed out anonymously, but Wolff said the team received a letter from one woman thanking them for their work, noting that she had her home mitigated after it tested at more than 100 pCi/L.
Wolff released her home's numbers to show that high levels can appear in any home. A lack of maintenance isn't the cause, and because there is no way to know about high levels, residents shouldn't feel guilty or ashamed.
"As soon as I knew, I started trying to do something about it," she said.
Levy developed a questionnaire asking about characteristics of a participant's home and said the only factor associated with higher levels was having a well-insulated home.
"Anyone can have a high radon level in their home. The only way to know is to test for it. You can't smell it, feel it. You don't know you're breathing it in," said Levy, who recently had a radon mitigation system installed in her own home.
However, she cautioned that no level of radon is "safe." Some lung cancers have occurred in patients at prolonged levels of 2 pCi/L.
While the Akron study serves as a snapshot of high levels in one corner of the state, Wolff and Levy noted that the work can be easily duplicated anywhere in Iowa.
"Communities want to get involved. Iowa's a good place to do that because communities really do get behind things like this to make their communities healthier," Wolff said.
Written by: Estela Villanueva-Whitman, Special to the Register 11:01 p.m. CT Jan. 4, 2015
Iowa Radon Resources
The EPA's map of radon zones: www.epa.gov/radon/zonemap.html
The University of Iowa: www.uihealthcare.org/radon
The American Lung Association: www.healthhouse.org/radon/ia_radon.cfm or 1-800-788-5864.
The Iowa Radon Hotline: 1-800-383-5992. Many counties sell or offer test kits.
Find a clickable map of the Iowa Department of Public Health's local Environmental Health Directory at www.idph.state.ia.us/webmap/default.asp?map=envhealth_resources.
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