JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) Radon Program is partnering with the Mississippi Public Library System next week to offer free radon home test kits as part of Radon Action Month.

Radon is an odorless, colorless gas and is the second leading cause of lung cancer nationwide. More than 20,000 Americans die of radon-related lung cancer each year, and radon causes up to 15 percent of lung cancers worldwide.

Radon is a radioactive gas found in nature. Its source is natural uranium in the earth. Being a gas, radon moves upward out of the soil and into the air, where it can enter and accumulate in homes. Uranium is found in most soils and in granite.

Test kits will be available while supplies last at the following libraries January 25-29, 2021:

Northern Mississippi:

Lee County Public Library – Tupelo

Starkville/Oktibbeha Public Library – Starkville

Carrollton/North Carrollton Public Library – North Carrollton

Humphreys County Public Library – Belzoni

Elizabeth Jones Public Library – Grenada

Indianola/Sunflower Public Library – Indianola

Greenwood/Leflore Public Library – Greenwood

Central Mississippi: 

B.S. Ricks Public Library – Yazoo City

Fannie Lou Hamer Public Library – Jackson

Dekalb County Public Library – Dekalb

Attala County Public Library – Kosciusko

Leake County Public Library –Carthage

Meridian-Lauderdale Public Library – Meridian

Southern Mississippi:  

Hattiesburg Public Library – Hattiesburg

Poplarville Public Library – Poplarville

For more information on radon exposure, visit the MSDH website at www.HealthyMS.com/radon.