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:

 

Northern Mississippi:                                                                                                                                                          

Starkville/Oktibbeha Public Library – Starkville

Elizabeth Jones Public Library – Grenada

 

Central Mississippi:                                                                                                                                                      

Fannie Lou Hamer Public Library – Jackson

Madison County Libraries – Ridgeland, Madison, and Canton

 

Southern Mississippi:                                                                                                                                  

West Biloxi Library – Biloxi

 

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

 

Follow MSDH by e-mail and social media at HealthyMS.com/connect.