{"id":1310922,"date":"2019-05-31T19:11:29","date_gmt":"2019-06-01T01:11:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=979714"},"modified":"2019-06-03T07:34:28","modified_gmt":"2019-06-03T13:34:28","slug":"clearing-the-air-from-the-impacts-of-radon-in-garfield-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/clearing-the-air-from-the-impacts-of-radon-in-garfield-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Clearing the air from the impacts of radon in Garfield County"},"content":{"rendered":"
Morgan Hill is Garfield County\u2019s Environmental Health Department radon expert and the main speaker at the workshop \u201cRadon and Your Home,\u201d that happens this week in Glenwood Springs and Rifle.<\/strong>
Natuza Olen \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. after smoking, and the radioactive gas could be present in local homes and buildings at alarming levels.<\/p>\n

According to the Garfield County Environmental Health Department, 40 percent of the tested homes in Garfield County registered levels of radon above the \u201caction limit\u201d of 4 picocuries per liter of air (pCi\/L).<\/p>\n

Odorless, tasteless and colorless, radon is naturally present in the atmosphere, but if inhaled at high levels over time, can deteriorate the body\u2019s cells and eventually lead to lung cancer.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u201cA lot of health risks are out of our control, but this one is not. If you test your house for radon and mitigate it if necessary, you are removing an active source of cancer for you and your family,\u201d said Hill.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Mountain states like Colorado are considered at high risk of having radon. \u201cA lot has to do with our geology,\u201d said Morgan Hill, radon expert with Garfield County Environmental Health.<\/p>\n

\u201cMountain areas have a lot of cracks and fissures in the rocks that provide pathways for radon to get to the surface,\u201d explained Hill.<\/p>\n

Radon testing<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Morgan Hill hands a free short-term radon testing kit at the Glenwood Springs public health office on Blake Avenue.<\/strong>
Natuza Olen \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe only way to know if you have radon in your home is testing,\u201d said Morgan Hill, who is certified in radon testing.<\/p>\n

According to Hill, radon is a problem that can affect any foundation type, new and old. \u201cA newer home may have a more tightly sealed basement or foundation, but once the gas enters the house it accumulates, as the air doesn\u2019t escape as easily.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garfield County offers free short-term radon testing kits to homeowners and renters in three different locations across the county \u2013 the public health offices in Glenwood Springs and Rifle, and at the CLEER office in Carbondale.<\/p>\n

Short-term and long-term tests can also be found at hardware stores or online.<\/p>\n

The kits distributed by the county come with bilingual instructions created by Hill, and take an average of seven days from installation to getting the laboratory results.<\/p>\n

The test should be placed from four to five days in a common area of the house, such as a family room, bedroom or hallway, at nose level \u2013 from three to six feet from the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is to test the air we normally breathe,\u201d said Hill. \u201cIt\u2019s important to avoid placing it close to high moisture areas like kitchen and bathroom, and heat sources like light bulbs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Free workshops<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This week, Hill will lead the free workshop \u201cRadon and Your Home,\u201d June 4 in Glenwood Springs and June 6 in Rifle.<\/p>\n

The event will cover health risks associated with radon, testing and mitigation. Hill will also share tips on how to set up a mitigation system yourself. \u201cIt is possible to do it yourself and it can be a great way to save money,\u201d said Hill.<\/p>\n

The event will also distribute testing kits, offer a discount coupon for a mitigation system, and answer questions from the community on how to keep families safe from radon gas.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of health risks are out of our control, but this one is not. If you test your house for radon and mitigate it if necessary, you are removing an active source of cancer for you and your family,\u201d said Hill.<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Morgan Hill is Garfield County\u2019s Environmental Health Department radon expert and the main speaker at the workshop \u201cRadon and Your Home,\u201d that happens this week in Glenwood Springs and Rifle.Natuza Olen \/ Post Independent Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. after smoking, and the radioactive gas could be present […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1310922","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-18 10:13:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1310922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1310922"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1310922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1310933,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1310922\/revisions\/1310933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1310922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1310922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1310922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}