Radon

Dr. Hart intended to answer the question of whether or not radon is deadly in Montana. Instead he answered the question, “Do Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) county zone designations correlate to statistically different rates of lung cancer deaths in Montana?” Based on a non-significant student t-test comparing mean cancer mortality for EPA zone 1 and 2 designated counties, Dr. Hart concluded the “notion” that radon is deadly in Montana should be questioned. Dr. Hart’s analysis is flawed.

We want to thank Dr. Wang and colleagues for their recently reported findings titled, “Mitigation of Radon and Thoron Decay Products by Filtration” in the November 2011 issue. Their experiments advanced what is known about the role of filtration in reducing exposure to ionizing radiation and broadened the discussion for mitigation alternatives when active soil depressurization is not feasible. In particular, the low-cost idea of using a fan with surgical mask material is a strategy to address risk reduction across socioeconomic strata.

Objectives: Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States and the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers. Residential radon is the cause of approximately 21,000 U.S. lung cancer deaths each year. Dangerous levels of radon are just as likely to be found in low-rise apartments and townhomes as single-family homes in the same area. The preferred radon mitigation strategy can be expensive and requires structural modifications to the home.

Objectives: I tested a social marketing intervention delivered in health department waiting rooms via digital signage technology for increasing radon program participation among priority groups.

Methods: I conducted a tri-county, community-based study over a 3-year period (2010–2013) in a high-radon state by using a quasi-experimental design. We collected survey data for eligible participants at the time of radon test kit purchase.

In this study, survey data from rural, low-income families were analyzed for the demographic and cognitive predictors of indoor radon testing. Participants (n = 224) lived in Zone 1 designated Montana counties. Logistic regression analyses were used to test a theoretically supported model in predicting radon testing. Half of the participants had never heard of the health effects of radon. The overall radon testing rate was 13.8% (n = 31) with rate of testing higher among home-owners (χ2 (1, 224) = 8.4, p = .004, OR = 3.2; 95% CI 1.4 – 7.4).

 OBJECTIVES: To examine the level of awareness of radon issues, correlates of elective testing behaviors, and the accuracy of risk perception for radon exposures among rural residents receiving public health services.
DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was used in which questionnaire data and household analytic data for radon levels were collected from a nonprobabilistic sample of rural households.

 Objectives: The primary aim of this research was to assess radon awareness and testing across 2 housing types.
Design and Sample: Cross-sectional prevalence study with time trends. National, probabilistic sample of 18,138 and 29,632 respondents from the 1994 and 1998 National Health Interview Surveys, respectively.