Written Testimony to Appropriations Committee for Continuation of State Indoor Radon Grants FY2016
The elimination of the
FY2016 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Indoor Environments Division
(USEPA/IED) State Indoor Radon Grant (SIRG) is devastating to me. I urge and encourage the continuation of the
appropriations of $8 million for EPA SIRG because most of our citizens have no
idea that they might be living, attending school, or working in environments
with elevated radon levels of radioactive radon gas. My plea to all of the
Republican and Democratic subcommittee members on the House Appropriations
Interior Environment Subcommittee is to consider that lung cancer is bipartisan,
to realize that lung cancer victims are not here to fight for themselves in
mass droves because lung cancer is the greatest cancer killer of all, and to
imagine the horrible circumstance of receiving a diagnosis of lung cancer
knowing that it could have been prevented with a simple test and the
installation of a radon mitigation system.
Several years ago my
husband, Joe, 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. In December 2006, Joe was
diagnosed with lung cancer. The oncologist
told us that radon was a known cause of lung cancer. Joe died six weeks after his diagnosis and
never knew that for 18 years we had been living with over four times the EPA
action level of radon. 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.[1] Lung cancer is the leading
cancer killer of all cancer. Most lung
cancer patients are not diagnosed until this demon is in its final stages;
there is only a 4% five-year survivor rate for late-stage lung cancer.[2] 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 this program 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 is
saving lives.
Over the last nine years
since Joe’s death from radon induced cancer, I’ve devoted my life to radon awareness,
education, and action. During this time,
I’ve become friends with and made acquaintances with many people throughout our
nation who didn’t know they were living with high levels of radioactive radon
gas until they were diagnosed with lung cancer. Many of them are or were
very young: Monica Pryor 37, mother of 3
small children from SC died in 2008; Steph Langstaat, 33, a middle school
principal in IA; Naomi Herzberg, 37, an active young woman in CA; Lori Tassin a
vibrant mother of two young children in IA; Linda D’Agostino was a mother of a
young teenager in PA; and Elizabeth Hoffmann diagnosed at 37 was a passionate
radon advocate for 10 years and many others in their early 40’s. Five of my friends are or were teachers in middle
schools—two of them have now passed: Susan
McCormick in OR and Barb Neitge in MN. The individuals I mentioned are just a
few of the people I’ve met and shared in their lives and stories of
radon-induced lung cancer. My friends all wanted to make a difference so
others wouldn’t learn about radon in the manner they did. Many of them have passed now, so it is up to
those of us left and YOU who know about the real danger of radon to help prevent
future radon-induced lung cancer deaths.
There are thousands and thousands of individuals whom I will never meet as
they are no longer present physically, but I am here today to speak for them.
An American dies every 25
minutes from lung cancer related to radioactive radon gas exposure in homes,
schools, and workplaces. With eight to
ten million U.S. homes existing with elevated levels of radon gas, the Environmental
Protection Agency needs a fully functioning vital radon program to help save
human lives. In 1988, a federal law was
passed—the Indoor Radon Abatement Act—which stated that our government would
protect the citizens from radon gas with state radon programs providing
education and awareness.[3] EPA has a moral duty and
legal obligation to the public. The EPA
estimates 9.2 million U.S. homes have an elevated radon level with 30 percent
having an operating radon mitigation system.[4] Of course, the more homes that are tested, the
greater validity to the radon levels. An
example of that is demonstrated in the county in which I live. When Joe died
of lung cancer, the radon zone we were supposedly living in was a Zone 2; now I
live in a Zone 1 radon area. I haven’t
moved. There have just been more tests performed and people are finding out for
the first time that their homes have elevated levels of radon. The National
Cancer Institute in 2005 indicated 15,000-22,000 deaths were due to radon
exposure; however, with more homes built with undetected high levels of radon
than the small percentage of homes being mitigated, that number is most likely
underestimated.[5] With radon ranking as the number one home hazard
by Harvard University, with high levels of this radioactive gas having been
detected in every state in our union, and with more deaths attributed to radon
exposure than to carbon monoxide, fires and handguns combined, our citizens
need to be aware of this increased danger of lung cancer that may be affecting
their health. The carcinogenicity of
radon is supported by a consensus of opinions among national and international
health organizations such as the World Health Organization, American Medical
Association, U.S. Surgeon General, Center for Disease Control, National Cancer
Institute, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Public Health
Service, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. By informing citizens about the health risk posed
by radon exposure—the leading cause of death in our homes--and by providing
practical advice about radon testing and mitigation, the State Radon Programs
through the use of the State Indoor Radon Grants can impact on prevention of
radon-induced lung cancer.
You may wonder what the
states do with the State Indoor Radon Grant money received. I can attest from firsthand knowledge of the
awareness, outreach, and education that occurs through the media blitz in
newspapers, radio and sometimes TV, but always through appearances at health
fairs, home shows, and conference presentations with community and
organizational leaders as well as builders and realtors. Medical forums are also conducted to educate
medical professionals with the knowledge and understanding of how they can help
increase radon awareness and save lives through radioactive radon exposure
prevention. Radon Education and
Networking Days are held, radon video contests are conducted to increase
awareness in high schools and involve the young generations in the importance
of protecting themselves and their families from elevated radon exposure. Radon test kits are available at a very
reasonable cost and sometimes free to the public. Through a survey it was revealed that without
the SIRG appropriation, all but three state programs would close; and
inevitably more deaths will occur through ignorance of the danger of radon
exposure.
Radon-induced lung cancer
occurs due to the ingestion of radioactive alpha particles, the attachment of
those particles to the lining of the lungs, and the occurrence of DNA
alteration which develops into cancerous cells spreading throughout the lungs
and often to the liver, the bones, and the brain. My husband, Joe, was diagnosed with late
state lung cancer as most lung cancer patients are. It was one month after his death when I found
that we had been living with a radon level of 17.6 picocuries per liter of air
(pCi/L). I cannot describe in words the
devastation of hopelessness and helplessness I had when the oncologist told us
that the lung cancer was inoperable and there was no cure. Nor can I completely tell you of my anger when
I discovered that radon was the likely cause and contributor of Joe’s death,
and how easily it could have been prevented if we had only known.
Determination overtook my
grief, devastation and anger as I gathered statistics, data and scientific
studies to present to my Illinois representative with a proposal for mandated
radon testing at the point of sale and mitigation required before occupancy if
the level was 4.0 (pCi/L) or higher. For
a solid year, I communicated with all of the Illinois legislators, informing
them of the danger of living with elevated levels of radon, and sharing with
them the 2006 Illinois Radon Status Report as well as my proposal. Although my proposal of mandated testing was
filed, it wasn’t called. The bill filed
and called is known as the Illinois Radon Awareness Act[6], and as a result of its
unanimous passage in the Illinois House and Senate and enactment in 2008, the number
of homeowners testing their home at the point of sale has increased from 8% to
nearly 50% according to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. However, there
is no state in our nation that mandates radon testing at the point of sale; nor
is there a federal law. My ultimate goal
is to have The Radon Awareness Act as a federal law. Minnesota copied this law and has seen the
same positive results.
We speak about money and
appropriations here today. I ask you to
contemplate the value of life. A radon test
kit costs approximately $20 and a radon mitigation installation averages about
$1,200-$1,500. Isn’t a life worth that
much? Please don’t sacrifice lives with
budget cuts. We have a government to provide protection for our citizens not
just on the battlefields, but in our own homes, schools, and workplaces as
well. However, people will not protect
themselves and their families from something they are unaware of.
Your opportunity to make
a difference and help save lives is present today. According to P. M. Sandman, a toxic Superfund site
causes more concern than radon, even though radon exposure kills more Americans
each year than all the Superfund sites combined.[7] However, because of sensationalism, the Superfund
sites get most of the funding and attention. Our citizens don’t stop
dying from radon-induced lung cancer just because radon isn’t in the news.
Please, I urge you to use
your voice and your vote to make a difference and help save thousands and
thousands of lives each year with the reinstatement of the State Radon Indoor
Grants and increased attention and appropriations that this demonic, silent and
radioactive killer deserves.
Respectfully Submitted,
Gloria Linnertz
Radon Reduction Activist, Advocate
March 3, 2015
Gloria Linnertz
Radon Reduction Activist, Advocate
March 3, 2015
[1]http://www.nationallungcancerpartnership.org/news-center/press-releases/in-the-dark.
[2]
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/in-depth/cancer/art-20044517
[3]http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/test/15chapter-53/subchapter-III
[6]http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2913&ChapterID=37
posted by Gloria Linnertz @ 4:50 PM
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