While there is no way for me to know with certainty if radon caused my lung cancer, I want people to know it is one risk factor that can be tested for and reduced to safe levels very easily. I also want people to know that smoking and exposure to radon are not the only risk factors for lung cancer and that many people develop lung cancer despite having no known risk factors. Exposure to secondhand smoke, family history of lung cancer and air pollution are risk factors for lung cancer. Report any persistent symptoms you have to your doctor. Being young and having no known history of tobacco use does not make you immune to lung cancer, even if the risk is low.
Despite the well-known risks of radon, it concerns me that there isn’t more public health messaging about radon, especially given its high prevalence in Colorado and many other states. The EPA estimates that radon kills approximately 21,000 people in the U.S. every year and about 2,900 of these deaths occur among people who have never smoked. These numbers may be a low estimate, as I know my doctor never asked me if I knew the radon level of my home when I was diagnosed. In fact, only a small number of family physicians transmit radon information to their patients. Please consider testing your home for radon at least every two years as recommended by the EPA because levels can change due to movement of soil, or new cracks in the foundation. Even if you have a mitigation system, testing is still recommended. A mitigation system is like any other appliance, and it can malfunction or stop working.
Learn more about radon and radon mitigation from the EPA and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Heidi Nafman Onda is a cancer survivor and health educator
###
... continued from pg 12. [blue hydrogen]
When public health becomes part of the blue hydrogen conversation, only then can we truly begin to limit the serious risk to human health this industry poses.
[1] Howarth, R.W., Jacobson, M.Z. (August 12, 2021). How green is blue hydrogen? Energy Science & Engineering. 9: 1676–1687. https://doi.org/10.1002/ese3.956
[2] Oreskes, N. (August 1, 2022). Carbon-Reduction Plans Rely on Tech That Doesn't Exist, Scientific American 327, 2, 90.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/carbon-reduction-plans-rely-on-tech-that-doesnt-exist/
[3] Milford, L., Mullendore, S., Ramanan, A. (December 14, 2020). Hydrogen Hype in the Air (blog). Clean Energy Group. https://www.cleanegroup.org/hydrogen-hype-in-the-air
###