By Margaret Henderson
The Ohio Department of Health has developed and implemented a broad reaching indoor radon program, utilizing both the state and local resources and by partnering with industry and organizations. Partnering efforts have historically been used and are currently being used to advance mitigation of radon hazards and protection of the consumer.
In the late 1980s, industry and legislators worked together proactively and created legislation to aid consumers, explained Marybeth Rich, Senior Health Physicist of the Radon Program in the Bureau of Radiation Protection at the Ohio Department of Health. Radon legislation and the ensuing rules have evolved over decades to provide continual protection and add requirements for data collection and reporting so that Ohio residents can access information on licensed testers, mitigation specialists and contractors and data regarding residential radon.
The regulated community currently consists of:
Licensed Radon Testers - 307
Licensed Radon Mitigation Specialists - 108
Licensed Radon Mitigation Contractors - 80
Approved Radon Laboratories - 13
Approved Radon Training Providers - 7
Partnering with the University of Toledo, which has extensive geological information on the sources and potential prevalence of radon in Ohio, the Radon Program’s incoming data is analyzed from the perspective of how it relates to the geological knowledge of the radon potential. The correlation supports what has been historically represented and known about the radon potentials in Ohio. The website “Geology of Radon in Ohio” http://www.eng.utoledo.edu/aprg/radon/geology/geo_ohio.html has explanations and maps showing the relationship in Ohio between bedrock and glacial geology and average indoor radon levels in zip code areas. The Radon Program has amassed data on all zip code areas in all 88 counties of Ohio; data management is provided by the University of Toledo under a grant from the Ohio Department of Health.
As of August 2014, 256,787 data points of radon test results have been mapped in the respective zip code areas of Ohio.
Another effective partnership underway is the Healthy Homes Radon Project Cooperative. The Indoor Radon Program and the Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention program of the Ohio Department of Health have joined together to provide radon mitigation at no cost to disparate homeowners through cost sharing of labor and materials by the programs. (Some area restrictions may apply.)
Outreach activities benefit from partnering strategies to extend the reach of the Radon Program as well. Donna Jurden, a Senior Health Physicist, described those efforts.
Currently throughout the state, partnering is done with 22 county health departments that participate in the radon outreach and education effort. Other partners include members of Ohio’s statewide comprehensive cancer control partnership, the Ohio Partners for Cancer Control. Through work with this partnership, a radon objective has been included in the Ohio Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan 2011-2014.
Along with partnering, presentations advance the cancer prevention efforts of the Radon Program. Educational training at environmental health conferences, realtor conventions and home shows often address a room full of individuals that may exceed 100 or more attendees.
The Radon Program has provided course content for continuing education for realtors, approved by the Ohio Department of Commerce. Course content written for and approved for continuing education by the Ohio Nurses Association was distributed to more than 10,000 licensed nurses for independent study on-line. Donna, who enjoys educating people about radon, noted that audiences range from members of the general public at home shows to medical professionals. With a passion for prevention of cancer, her presentations encourage radon awareness and mitigation of excessive radon concentrations.
With its many partners and by working within its regulatory structure, the Ohio Indoor Radon Program is able to provide consumers with health information and guidance designed to prevent lung cancers caused by radon.
Contacts:
Ohio Department of Health
Bureau of Radiation Protection
Indoor Radon Program
246 N. High St., 7th Floor 35 Building
Columbus, OH 43215
Telephone: (614) 644-2727
Fax: (614) 466-0381
Toll-Free Radon Information (Ohio Residents Only): 1-800-523-4439
http://www.odh.ohio.gov/odhprograms/rp/radlic/radon.aspx
Bradiation@odh.ohio.gov
University of Toledo
http://www.eng.utoledo.edu/aprg/radon/index.html
United States