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Ritter Calls January Colorado Radon Action Month

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Jan 5, 2009 3:10 pm US/Mountain

Ritter Calls January Colorado Radon Action Month

DENVER (CBS4) ― Gov. Bill Ritter announced January to be Colorado Radon Action Month on Monday and urged residents to test their homes for radon on Monday.

Radon is a radioactive gas blamed for approximately 1,400 cancer deaths each year in Colorado.

"The colorless, odorless, tasteless gas enters homes through cracks in the floor or spaces around utility pipes and accumulates unless properly vented," Warren Smith with the Hazardous Materials & Waste Management Division said in a prepared statement. "Long-term radon exposure is the leading cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers and the second leading cause of lung cancer in smokers."

January is good month to test homes for radon because short-term tests require closed windows and doors, Gov. Ritter said.

Radon results from the radioactive decay of uranium, which occurs naturally in soil.

Additional Resources

  • The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment provides coupons for reduced-cost radon test kits at www.coloradoradon.info. The Web site also lists contractors certified by the National Environmental Health Association to install systems to remove, or mitigate, radon.
  • Read the complete text of the governor's announcement.
  • Radon Hotline: 1-800-846-3986

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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