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It's odorless, colorless and can cause lung cancer: Free radon home test kits available

Date Published: 02/13/2020 [Source]

The Mississippi Department of Health is partnering with the Mississippi Public Library System to offer free radon home test kits to state residents.

Radon is an odorless, colorless gas and is the second-leading cause of lung cancer nationwide, according to a news release from the health department.

More than 20,000 Americans die of radon-related lung cancer each year, and radon causes up to 15% 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.

The state averages nearly 1,942 deaths and 2,528 new cases from lung cancer each year, according to the health department.

Compared with other states, the 2010-2014 age-adjusted mortality rate for lung and bronchus cancer in Mississippi was the fourth highest in the nation (58.8 per 100,000), higher than the U.S. rate (44.7 per 100,000).

Test kits will be available at libraries across the sate while supplies last. Here's where they are available.

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 Eudora Welty 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