Sunday, October 20, 2013


Why and How a Radon Advocate
Can Change the World
November is National Lung Cancer Awareness Month and January is National Radon Awareness Month, but those are not the only times when radon advocates are active.  The radon activist lives and breathes the goal of educating others about the danger of living, working or attending school in environments that have high levels of radioactive radon gas—the second leading cause of lung cancer. Any type of building or structure that touches the ground may be susceptible to elevated levels of radon, whether it is new or old, brick or frame, with or without a basement, with a crawl space or slab on grade. The unrelenting radon activist relays the message that radon is the leading environmental cause of cancer mortality with an EPA estimated 21,000 radon-related lung cancer deaths yearly is found in every state in elevated levels, and is responsible for up to 18% of all lung cancer deaths in the U.S. according to the World Health Organization’s newest evidence.
With presentations in front of groups of medical personnel, state or federal legislators, businessmen and women, community organizers, home builders, realtors, educators, or friends and neighbors, the radon advocate shares the fact that radon exposure increases the change of lung cancer; and with testimonies before state and federal governing bodies, the activist strives to encourage governmental protection from this silent killer.  Most people are unaware of the danger of exposure to radon gas, so the radon activist urges everyone to perform a simple test with a kit which can be purchased at hardware stores or online; and if the radon level is between 2-4 picocuries per liter of air (pCi/L), test again; if the level remains elevated, hire a licensed/certified professional to install a mitigation system. The U.S. Environment Protection Agency uses an action level of 4.0 pCi/L; however, the World Health Organization uses 2.7 pCi/L as its reference level. Yet there is no safe level of radon exposure.
  Be it through newspaper articles, blogs, facebook entries, TV or radio interviews, webinars, websites, brochures, or press releases, the radon activist shares his or her life story of how education about radon came only after the diagnosis of lung cancer reared its demonic head.  Not wanting anyone else to learn in this manner what radioactive radon exposure can do, the radon activist shares his/her knowledge with seatmates on airplanes, friends on facebook, neighbors, retail clerks, postal employees, and utility workers by  relaying the message of the Surgeon General that everyone should test the home for radon--a Class A carcinogen.
The determination to prevent future deaths from radon exposure is paramount in the mind of the activist, so I ask you to test your home for radon, fix it if the level is elevated, and share your radon knowledge with others.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Although it is in its infancy, perhaps you can join.  Thanks.
https://www.facebook.com/citizens4radonreduction?ref=br_tf

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Hope you can attend the International Radon Symposium, Sept. 22-25 in Springfield, IL, and join me on Sunday, Sept. 22 at 1:00-5:00 pm to learn more about passing state radon laws. Gloria Linnertz, Radon Advocate http://www.aarst.org/radon_reporter/images/RadonReporter7-17-13.pdf

Friday, August 16, 2013

Great to see Dr. Toni Neri of CDC at the National Conference of State Legislators. Thank you Dr. Neri for your support in preventing radon-induced lung cancer.

Please give a listen to this podcast.
http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/env-res/2013-summit-podcast-tony-neri.aspx

Thursday, April 25, 2013


MY TESTIMONY TO U.S. Congress on 2014 EPA RADON BUDGET

My heart is crying. The EPA zero budget FY2014 for radon will stop the outreach by the states, close the state radon programs, and increase the risk of radon-induced lung cancer due to lack of knowledge by our citizens. I am asking for the previous budget of $12 million not only be reinstated but increased to $20 million because of the seriousness of radioactive radon gas exposure resulting in up to 22,000 deaths or greater each year.

The reasoning behind this elimination of funding to the radon program was based on redundant funding which is not true. The state programs cannot operate without the assistance from the federal government and get no other assistance. Effective and committed personnel who have been successful in educating the public are facing a loss of jobs, state programs are being closed, and ultimately lives will be lost because of the public’s ignorance of the danger of radioactive radon gas.

Since my husband’s death from radon-induced lung cancer, I’ve devoted my life to radon awareness, education, and action; and I’m asking you for help.

A few years before my husband’s lung cancer diagnosis, he asked me if we should check our home for radon gas. I said “No, our home is only 20 years old and we have a tight basement.” I was very confident in my ignorance, for I didn’t know that radioactive radon gas can be in any type of home, old, new, basement, no basement, crawl space or slab on grade. I didn’t know that the tighter the home, the greater the possibility of high levels of radon, so we didn’t test. My husband Joe lived only six weeks after his lung cancer diagnosis and never knew that we had been living with over four times the EPA action level of radon for 18 years.

According to a recent survey 88% of the nation’s population doesn’t know that radon gas is the leading cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers or the leading environmental cause of cancer mortality. Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer of all cancers. Most lung cancer patients are not diagnosed until this demon is in its final stages; there is only a 2-4% five-year survivor rate for late stage lung cancer.

Most people are completely unaware if there is a presence of elevated radioactive radon gas in their home or not. The only way to know is to test and few people have done that. What a simple life-saving solution—if we had only known.

The amount of funding to these programs is minuscule compared to other programs that don’t even have the public’s safety at stake. I ask you to change your direction and to think of the lives of our citizens before closing the door to a program that was saving lives.


Source: “Americans in the Dark About Lung Cancer.” National Lung Cancer Partnership. 2011. http://www.nationallungcancerpartnership.org/news-center/press-releases/in-the-dark.