LungBlog

She’s never smoked, so Barbara Sorgatz was stunned to learn she had lung cancer.

What probably caused the tumor, she later found out, was radioactive radon gas seeping into her home near Glen Ellyn.

You can’t see, smell or taste it, but it may be a problem in your home and is a leading cause of lung cancer deaths. What is this invisible substance? Radon. Oakland County Health Division (OCHD) will provide free home radon test kits (one kit per customer) during January and prevention information about radon in observance of National Radon Action Month (NRAM)

Recognizing January as National Radon Month, Midland County Health Officials remind residents to test their homes for the colorless, odorless gas.Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can accumulate in homes and cause cancer, said Robert Wolfe, responsible for the department’s well and septic efforts in the east half of the county.

During January, National Radon Action Month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Surgeon General urge Americans to test their homes for radon, a cancer-causing radioactive gas that claims tens of thousands of lives each year.

Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers and the second leading cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking in the U.S. and in the world. When radon is trapped in buildings and concentrations build up indoors, exposure becomes a concern. Breathing indoor air with radon can damage lung tissue and lead to cancer.

“Many people are not aware that breathing radon can cause lung cancer, but the science is strong,” said EPA Regional Administrator Donald S. Welsh. “Radon-related deaths can be prevented. Our hope is that people will understand the potential health risk and test their homes for radon and fix any problems they find.”

If you inhale it in the air or ingest it in water and those alpha particles release in your stomach or lung it can damage the DNA in the cell, “and that can potentially cause cancer,” she says. “We primarily think of it with lung cancer.”

Radon exposure is the second-leading cause of lung cancer, but you can take steps to protect your family.Radon testing kits are available in most hardware stores. Each package contains the materials necessary to test for excessive levels of radon.

Radon is a radioactive gas that you can’t see, taste or smell. When you breathe in radon, the radioactive particles release bursts of energy that can damage lung tissue and lead to lung cancer.

Radon, an odorless, tasteless, invisible and naturally occurring gas, has become the second leading cause of lung cancer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The radioactive gas gets into the air and, when taken into the lungs, causes disease, the EPA said.

 Each year in Minnesota: More people are diagnosed with lung cancer than breast, colon and prostate cancer combined. It’s a disease most people associate with smokers, but a growing number of patients have never smoked.

Sometimes the place that makes us feel the safest hides a horrible truth. Berni Collins and her family learned that three years ago when she was diagnosed with lung cancer.

The possibility that radon is causing the high rates of cancer has been mentioned in New Oak but according to the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, radon is only linked to lung cancer and the residents of New Oak are experiencing a range of cancers from lung to breast to womb.