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Radon testing increased dramatically in 2023 — but experts warn most Utahns are still at risk
Air quality is a frequent point of conversation in Utah, especially during the winter. What some might not know is that there is another, indoor air quality threat that gets worse when the weather turns cold: naturally occurring, radioactive radon gas.
Fortunately, Utahns statewide are taking action after hearing the stories of people like Kerri Robbins, a Lehi resident, whose first real experience with radon on a June morning is something she is committed to helping others avoid.
"As I'm washing my hands [that morning], I'm looking in the mirror and I don't know why I'm here," Robbins told a KSL reporter.
Confused and frightened, she went to the hospital where doctors eventually discovered lung cancer that had already metastasized.
The oncologist explained that it had gone from my lungs to my brain. The first thing he said was, 'Have you had your house tested for radon?'
–Kerri Robbins
"The oncologist explained that it had gone from my lungs to my brain," Robbins explained. "The first thing he said was, 'Have you had your house tested for radon?'"
While grappling with her diagnosis, Robbins tested her home with a simple test kit (which is free to anyone in Utah). The results were startling: Robbins' home had 31.3 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) of radioactive radon gas.
Recent reports from Utah-based experts suggest that there are concerning radon levels in 58% of Salt Lake County, 47% of Davis County, and 63% of Utah County buildings, including homes, schools, and businesses. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends radon mitigation be considered at 2.0 pCi/L and the World Health Organization recommends taking action at 2.7 pCi/L.
Kerri's Story
The discovery of radon levels at 31.3 picocuries per liter in her home — over 11 times the World Health Organization's action level and more than 15 times the EPA's consideration level — is alarming, but unfortunately, not uncommon."
"30.0 picocuries of radon is like smoking three packs of cigarettes every day," Eleanor Divver, the radon coordinator at the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, told KSL last year. "It's heartbreaking to hear these stories, and yet I hear them every day."
Since Robbins' story was first reported by KSL, it has resonated across Utah, leading to an unprecedented response. Tens of thousands more Utahns have requested radon tests this year according to one Utah-based testing provider, including more than 11,000 in the weeks following KSL News' initial reporting on Kerri's story.
This represents a clear indicator of increasing awareness and statewide action, but there are still hundreds of thousands of homes that have never been tested — and the EPA recommends that Utahns test their homes every few years, no matter what the result was in the past.
Robbins has completed a year of treatment for her diagnosis and is now a tireless advocate for radon testing within the state. She also had Utah Radon Services mitigate her home to ensure there was no future danger to friends, family, or animals.
"Our level went from 31.3 to 1.3," Robbins said after installing a simple system in her home to mitigate its high radon concentration. "I feel so much more comfortable in my house now."
Installing the necessary equipment to disperse radon in a midsize home is relatively inexpensive, costing about the same as purchasing a good-quality laptop computer.
Radon rises in the cold
People are more cognizant of air quality as wintertime inversions set in. Likewise, radon gets more pervasive during cold months.
As homes are sealed against the cold, radon levels rise, making winter months the most critical time for testing. A combination of cold, often snow-covered soil and thermodynamics around buildings means that nearly every home is susceptible to a spike in radon during winter.
If someone has only tested during warmer weather, Divver recommends that they also test in the winter. It doesn't matter what region of the state they live in.
"There's uranium in the soil, there's uranium in the rock everywhere," she told KSL. "It doesn't have to be near a canyon. It doesn't have to be on top of a mountain."
The Intermountain West is known for significant uranium deposits, which constantly decay into radium, and eventually into radon gas that seeps up from the ground and can permeate even the soundest building foundations in structures that don't have a collection and disbursement system.
Known as a slow and silent killer, radon causes about 21,000 lung cancer deaths every year in the U.S., according to the EPA. Additionally, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the Beehive State even though it has the lowest smoking rate in the nation, according to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.
"I tell people that it's absolutely worth the few minutes it takes to set up a test while it's cold out," said TJ Mellars, a mitigation specialist who works with Utah Radon Services. "Radon is a fact of life in Utah, and a bigger fact during winter. So, order a free test and set it up during the Christmas downtime. Then, by the new year, you can rest assured knowing whether or not there is an issue."
For more information about the effects of radon, how to test for it, and how to remove it from your home, visit utahradonservices.com or the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.
