Kenosha County Public Health is offering $5 radon test kits throughout January — Radon Action Month — to anyone who donates a nonperishable food item.
There is a limit of one kit per person. All donations will go to local food pantries.
Radon is an odorless, radioactive gas that is the nation’s second leading cause of lung cancer, accounting for roughly 20,000 deaths each year, said Mark Melotik, Environmental Manager with Kenosha County Public Health.
“The only way to know you have it in your home is to test, and our Radon Action Month promotion offers the opportunity to do that while also helping people in need in the community,” Melotik said.
Testing is offered locally through the Kenosha/Walworth Radon Information Center, funded through a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Beginning in February, the cost for a test kit will be $15.
The kit includes a small vile that must be left open to the air in the lowest livable level of a home — usually the basement — for 48 to 96 hours. The vile is then capped and mailed to Accustar Labs, which generally provides the results within three days via mail, email or telephone. Shipping and analysis of the kit is also free.
Those whose homes test at an elevated level of radon are urged to contact Kenosha County Public Health for more information about mitigation options.
The January test kit offer is redeemable Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Kenosha County Public Health Clinic in the Job Center, 8600 Sheridan Road, Kenosha, Entrance D, or from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Department of Public Works in the Kenosha County Center at highways 45 and 50 in Bristol.
More information about the Radon Information Center is available online at http://www.kenoshacounty.org/338/Radon.