By Margaret Henderson
In Minnesota, nearly 80% of counties are rated high radon zones according to the Minnesota Department of Health. (High radon zones are considered to have the potential for indoor radon concentrations to exceed the EPA recommended action level of 4 pCi/L.)
To reach the state’s diverse population across the entire state and inform them of the need to test each home for radon and mitigate if necessary, the Indoor Air Unit of the department saw a need to create multi-language videos. This effort was undertaken as part of an on-going initiative to address health disparities and provide public information. Although the videos were created with Minnesota residents in mind, Dan Tranter, Supervisor, explained that they are not Minnesota centric. The information presented applies to all areas of the country and includes useful information to people in other parts of the United States. The videos are hosted by ECHO, an organization that provides multi-cultural programming and services on health and safety.
The videos on http://www.echominnesota.org/radon are short, range from five to seven minutes in length, and are presented in four languages, talking about “Radon: The Invisible Killer.” The languages are subtitled in English as well, but spoken in these languages:
• English
• Spanish
• Hmong
• Somali
For more information about the production of the videos and radon in Minnesota, contact:
Dan Tranter, M.P.H.
Supervisor
Indoor Air Unit
P.O. Box 64975
St. Paul, MN 55164
Office: (651) 201-4618
Mobile: (651) 331-6548
Web: http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/air
United States