Recognizing Radon:
The Role of a Nurse
By Kathleen Thimsen, DNP, MSN, ET/WOCN, FNS (Associate Professor and Faculty in Residence; DNP Program Director)
January is known as National Radon Action Month, per the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The organization ranks radon as the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S., but what is Radon and how does it relate to nursing? Identifying environmental concerns like Radon and its potential risks is one example of how public health and nurses go hand in hand.
Recognizing Radon
Radon is a naturally occurring radio-active gas that can cause lung cancer. Lung cancer associated with Radon gas causes approximately 21,000 lung cancer or kills approximately 15 out of 1000 people each year. If you are a smoker, and are exposed to radon gas, your chances of fatal lung cancer are increased to 27 out of 1000 deaths annually. Radon gas is inert, odorless, and colorless. It is harmless in trace amounts and when dispersed outdoors. The most common exposure linked to lung cancer exists in homes and buildings. Typically, the gas leaks into the foundation through cracks and holes. The gas is then trapped in the home with limited access to escape. This is especially worrisome as the advances in securing tighter installations, window closures and environmentally conscious technologies contain the cooling and heating systems to be more efficient.
While entry through the foundation is the primary concern when it comes to radon gas, it can also enter buildings through the water supply, posing both inhalation and ingestion risks. Radon problems in drinking water are much more common in groundwater supplied systems (private and public wells) rather than surface water supplied systems. Risk levels are ranked by 3 zones of known radon in the environment, based on severity. In Nevada, studies show that all three zones are present that ranks 13th in the country for radon risk levels, so many Nevadans are at some degree of risk.
Magnifying a Nurse’s Role in Public Health
Population health (community-based) nursing is focused on identifying and improving conditions for persons to prevent or mitigate illnesses. I became interested in the impact of environment and stimuli that precipitated and exacerbated respiratory illness in children as well as the general population. I was teaching students in a community health nursing clinical in the inner city of an impoverished community in Illinois. The students were charged with performing a community assessment of an assigned zip code. They identified a community with water, soil and air contaminants that aligned with the bio-statistical data they researched on the health conditions affecting the population. Their work led them to look closer at the schools, day care and Head Start programs to measure the burden of disease and impact related to air quality. As a result of the students’ work and over the subsequent three years of additional nursing students and other inter-professional students, a comprehensive program centered on lead, asthma and allergy triggers was developed and deployed.
In working on air quality, I met a woman who was an advocate for Radon Awareness. I began researching the topic of radon and its impact to persons that more times than not, only came to light when a lung cancer diagnosis was made in a non-smoker. Radon is a topic that needs awareness and can be detected with easy, in-home, self-administered monitors. Radon, if found can be treated and mitigated from a home. In-home testing is the easiest way to identify if your home has a radon problem. It is easy to obtain radon testing monitors at local hardware stores and home improvement centers. The monitors are placed in a structure for a set period and then sealed and sent into a laboratory for analysis after the detection period has expired. To find an EPA-approved qualified tester, visit the Nevada state site.
As we return to being back in the community, we will have the opportunity to identify communities or schools that would benefit from a community based environmental health scan and intervention program, driven by nursing students with a long-term impact of not only environmental health but a healthier southern Nevada. Radon related lung cancer is preventable, do a home test today to protect you and your family.
References:
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Recognizing Radon
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer. Lung cancer associated with Radon gas causes approximately 21,000 lung cancer or kills approximately 15 out of 1000 people each year. If you are a smoker, and are exposed to radon gas, your chances of fatal lung cancer are increased to 27 out of 1000 deaths annually. Radon gas is inert, odorless, and colorless. It is harmless in trace amounts and when dispersed outdoors. The most common exposure linked to lung cancer exists in homes and buildings. Typically, the gas leaks into the foundation through cracks and holes. The gas is then trapped in the home with limited access to escape. This is especially worrisome as the advances in securing tighter installations, window closures and environmentally conscious technologies contain the cooling and heating systems to be more efficient.
While entry through the foundation is the primary concern when it comes to radon gas, it can also enter buildings through the water supply, posing both inhalation and ingestion risks. Radon problems in drinking water are much more common in groundwater supplied systems (private and public wells) rather than surface water supplied systems. Risk levels are ranked by 3 zones of known radon in the environment, based on severity. In Nevada, studies show that all three zones are present that ranks 13th in the country for radon risk levels, so many Nevadans are at some degree of risk.
Magnifying a Nurse’s Role in Public Health
Population health (community-based) nursing is focused on identifying and improving conditions for persons to prevent or mitigate illnesses. I became interested in the impact of environment and stimuli that precipitated and exacerbated respiratory illness in children as well as the general population. I was teaching students in a community health nursing clinical in the inner city of an impoverished community in Illinois. The students were charged with performing a community assessment of an assigned zip code. They identified a community with water, soil and air contaminants that aligned with the bio-statistical data they researched on the health conditions affecting the population. Their work led them to look closer at the schools, day care and Head Start programs to measure the burden of disease and impact related to air quality. As a result of the students’ work and over the subsequent three years of additional nursing students and other inter-professional students, a comprehensive program centered on lead, asthma and allergy triggers was developed and deployed.
In working on air quality, I met a woman who was an advocate for Radon Awareness. I began researching the topic of radon and its impact to persons that more times than not, only came to light when a lung cancer diagnosis was made in a non-smoker. Radon is a topic that needs awareness and can be detected with easy, in-home, self-administered monitors. Radon, if found can be treated and mitigated from a home. In-home testing is the easiest way to identify if your home has a radon problem. It is easy to obtain radon testing monitors at local hardware stores and home improvement centers. The monitors are placed in a structure for a set period and then sealed and sent into a laboratory for analysis after the detection period has expired. To find an EPA-approved qualified tester, visit the Nevada state site.
As we return to being back in the community, we will have the opportunity to identify communities or schools that would benefit from a community based environmental health scan and intervention program, driven by nursing students with a long-term impact of not only environmental health but a healthier southern Nevada. Radon related lung cancer is preventable, do a home test today to protect you and your family.
References:
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24
JAN. 14, 2021
Recognizing Radon
Radon is a naturally occurring radio-active gas that can cause lung cancer. Lung cancer associated with Radon gas causes approximately 21,000 lung cancer or kills approximately 15 out of 1000 people each year. If you are a smoker, and are exposed to radon gas, your chances of fatal lung cancer are increased to 27 out of 1000 deaths annually. Radon gas is inert, odorless, and colorless. It is harmless in trace amounts and when dispersed outdoors. The most common exposure linked to lung cancer exists in homes and buildings. Typically, the gas leaks into the foundation through cracks and holes. The gas is then trapped in the home with limited access to escape. This is especially worrisome as the advances in securing tighter installations, window closures and environmentally conscious technologies contain the cooling and heating systems to be more efficient.
While entry through the foundation is the primary concern when it comes to radon gas, it can also enter buildings through the water supply, posing both inhalation and ingestion risks. Radon problems in drinking water are much more common in groundwater supplied systems (private and public wells) rather than surface water supplied systems. Risk levels are ranked by 3 zones of known radon in the environment, based on severity. In Nevada, studies show that all three zones are present that ranks 13th in the country for radon risk levels, so many Nevadans are at some degree of risk.
Magnifying a Nurse’s Role in Public Health
Population health (community-based) nursing is focused on identifying and improving conditions for persons to prevent or mitigate illnesses. I became interested in the impact of environment and stimuli that precipitated and exacerbated respiratory illness in children as well as the general population. I was teaching students in a community health nursing clinical in the inner city of an impoverished community in Illinois. The students were charged with performing a community assessment of an assigned zip code. They identified a community with water, soil and air contaminants that aligned with the bio-statistical data they researched on the health conditions affecting the population. Their work led them to look closer at the schools, day care and Head Start programs to measure the burden of disease and impact related to air quality. As a result of the students’ work and over the subsequent three years of additional nursing students and other inter-professional students, a comprehensive program centered on lead, asthma and allergy triggers was developed and deployed.
In working on air quality, I met a woman who was an advocate for Radon Awareness. I began researching the topic of radon and its impact to persons that more times than not, only came to light when a lung cancer diagnosis was made in a non-smoker. Radon is a topic that needs awareness and can be detected with easy, in-home, self-administered monitors. Radon, if found can be treated and mitigated from a home. In-home testing is the easiest way to identify if your home has a radon problem. It is easy to obtain radon testing monitors at local hardware stores and home improvement centers. The monitors are placed in a structure for a set period and then sealed and sent into a laboratory for analysis after the detection period has expired. To find an EPA-approved qualified tester, visit the Nevada state site.
As we return to being back in the community, we will have the opportunity to identify communities or schools that would benefit from a community based environmental health scan and intervention program, driven by nursing students with a long-term impact of not only environmental health but a healthier southern Nevada. Radon related lung cancer is preventable, do a home test today to protect you and your family.
References:
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