An Update from the State of Utah
Utah is combating radon on a number of fronts. Eleanor Divver, the Radon Project Coordinator for the state, provides an update on the many radon initiatives in the state.
Legislation
The State of Utah has worked on important radon legislation this year. The Division of Radiation Control, within the Department of Environmental Quality for the State of Utah, is happy to see Senate Bill 109 has passed. This bill allocates $25,000 for a media campaign to educate Utah residents about radon and to encourage testing and mitigation.
Newborn Baby Program
Utah is growing its existing newborn baby program. The program was established in 2003 through a partnership with Intermountain Health Care. In local hospitals, the labor and delivery nurses put a coupon for a free radon test kit in the “goodie” bag that goes home with families. The goal is to have these free coupons going home to every family in Utah that has a newborn. Providing a radon test kit to every new family will hopefully reduce lung cancer cases and deaths in Utah.
Currently, approximately ten percent of the state’s hospitals participate in the newborn program. The Department of Radiation Control would like to connect with even more hospitals to create a comprehensive, statewide program. The greatest advantage to this program is that it allows families to test their home for radon without any cost to them. This program has the potential to reduce radon risk in all families with newborns regardless of whether they are located in a city or in a rural setting, and regardless of socioeconomic status, race or ethnicity.
Combined Efforts with 10 County Health Departments on Radon
The state health department is working with ten County Health Districts around the state to reduce the risk of radon. The goals of their outreach campaign to country health departments are to inform the public, increase radon testing, and increase mitigation where needed. State health department workers note that it has been a very positive experience to know that the majority of the state is being served through the combined efforts of the state and county health departments.
Radon Test Results by Zip Code
The Division of Radiation Control has been keeping records of radon test results and radon levels by zip code over the past fifteen years. They have used this information to design a tool for residents that shows them information about radon levels from results of tests conducted in their zip code area. The data has been formatted into a table that allows residents to see how many tests have been done in their zip code and see the results of those tests. This provides residents a quick way to gauge the potential risk of radon in their homes.
One concern with the division’s tool is that some people will see that the level of radon in their neighborhood is relatively low and think that their home is probably safe. Even though a neighborhood has low levels of radon on average, some homes in the area may still have have elevated indoor radon levels. The only way to know for sure is to test each home. However, most of the time, using the online tool piques residents’ interest and convinces them to test their homes. The division has more than 35,000 test results recorded from the last 15 years. They have found the average level of radon for the state is 5.3 pico Curies per liter (pCi/l), which exceeds the EPA’s recommended action level of 4.0 pCi/l. The Division of Radiation Control hopes that the information and tools they provide on their website will encourage Utah residents to test their homes for radon and mitigate, if needed.
Please go to http://www.radon.utah.gov to find more information about Utah’s radon programs. On the right hand side, click on Test Results by Zip Codes so see the radon tool described in the article above.
Based on an interview with:
Eleanor Divver, Radon Project Coordinator
1950 West 195 North
Salt Lake City, UT 84114
edivver@utah.gov
801-536-0091
United States