Brown County Public Health, Library partner to provide radon testing devices

BROWN COUNTY – Brown County Public Health and the Brown County Library announced a new partnership this week to provide reusable, digital radon testing devices to Brown County residents.

“This is a fantastic example of two local government departments working together toward the common goal of improving lives in Brown County,” said Troy Streckenbach, Brown County Executive. “We hope residents take advantage of the opportunity to test and learn if they need to take further action to safeguard their health at home.”

With the new partnership in place, members of the community can use their library card to check out a testing device, just like a book, to test their home for radon.

“You can’t see [radon], smell it or taste it, so the only way to know if radon is present in your home is if you test for it,” said Anna Nick, Brown County Health Officer. “Testing doesn’t occur as much as we’d like because people don’t know about it, so that’s part of what we’re doing here — raising awareness, but also access to the test.”

The goal of the program is to increase education about radon’s health risks.

Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer, behind only smoking, and is responsible for nearly 1,000 deaths every year in Wisconsin.

Approximately one in ten homes throughout the state have elevated radon levels.

The EPA recommends taking action to mitigate radon in your home if your test shows radon levels of 4 pCi/L or higher.

Even if you’ve tested your home in the past and not had a high enough result to warrant mitigation, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services recommends continued monitoring with tests every two to five years.

“Radon levels fluctuate…” said Grace Rollin, program lead for Brown County Public Health. “They can really change at any point, especially if you do things like renovate your home, or if you change your windows and doors. All of those things can affect your radon levels.”

Testing with the library’s kits is simple — check out a test kit, set the device up in the lowest level of your home that you or your family regularly spend time in, and wait one to two weeks.

If your test shows elevated levels, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services recommends following up with a short-term charcoal test kit to confirm. Charcoal test kits are available to Brown County residents at no cost through Brown County Public Health.

Once you’ve confirmed elevated radon levels in your home, it’s recommended that you contact one of many certified radon mitigation contractors to install a radon mitigation system.

In total, 45 digital radon testing devices were purchased for the program using grant money secured through the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. They are available at all Brown County Library branches.

Learn more at browncountywi.gov/services/radon.