Education, tests needed about radon, its risks

Have you tested your home for radon within the past two years? What was the result?

I hope all Iowa physicians will include those two questions as part of their interaction with patients. Iowa has the highest incidence of radon in the country. I didn't learn this until last spring when I was diagnosed with lung cancer. If a physician had taught me about radon years ago, I believe my circumstances would be much different today.

Since I am a never-smoker, I was only asked if I had been exposed to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke causes approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths annually; radon causes 23,000. In Iowa alone, nearly 400 lung cancer deaths are radon-induced - more than the annual number killed on Iowa's highways.

The American Lung Association can provide many good resources that you can pass on to your patients. Test kits cost very little.

Join with the Iowa Radon Coalition to convince our state legislature that we need a comprehensive plan to safeguard Iowans. New homes should be constructed with passive radon mitigation systems. All real estate transactions should include a radon test. Public education should be ongoing.

Gail Orcutt

Pleasant Hill