Test your home annually for radon

To the editor:

I'm not a realtor, builder or a radon mitigator. I was an Iowa teacher for 33 years. Eighteen months after retiring I was diagnosed with lung cancer. I had no idea that someone who has never smoked or never lived or worked around secondhand smoke could get lung cancer. It was only after my left lung was removed and I began months of chemotherapy that I learned that 7 out of 10 homes in Iowa contain a dangerous level of radon, a radioactive soil gas.

The sad fact about lung cancer is that it's rarely found before stage 4. Nearly 400 Iowans die annually because of radon. That's more than Iowa's annual highway deaths. So on average, an Iowan dies every day from radon-induced lung cancer, a death that might have been prevented with some awareness and action.

January is Radon Action Month. Test your home annually. DIY kits are inexpensive. You can get one from your county health department or call (800) 383-5992. Fix your home if necessary; it's a one-time home improvement. If you're planning to build a new home, insist that a passive mitigation system be installed. It will be one-third the cost of fixing the problem later. Has your child's school been tested and unacceptable results addressed?

Lastly, if you are experiencing respiratory symptoms that won't improve, insist that your physician order a CT. Lung cancer found at its earliest stages is curable.

Gail Orcutt

Pleasant Hill