KCCI EIGHT NEWS AT SIX. THE STATE OF IOWA HAS THE SECOND HIGHEST RATE OF NEW CANCER CASES IN THE COUNTRY, BUT OUR STATE RANKS FIRST IN THE PERCENTAGE OF HOMES THAT HAVE RADON LEVELS AT OR ABOVE THE EPA’S ACCEPTED LEVEL. RADON EXPOSURE IS THE SECOND LEADING CAUSE OF LUNG CANCER. AND HERE IN OUR STATE, NEARLY 1500 PEOPLE ARE EXPECTED TO DIE FROM LUNG CANCER. THIS YEAR ALONE. IT IS THE DEADLIEST FORM OF CANCER IN OUR STATE. MORE THAN 25% OF THOSE DEATHS ARE TIED TO RADON. KCCI INVESTIGATES WHAT’S BEING DONE TO PROTECT US FROM THIS RADIOACTIVE GAS THAT CAN BE FOUND IN ALL OF OUR HOMES. THEY SAY NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES. HELLO? ANYBODY HOME? J.V., THE RADON MAN HERE. J.B. SHEARER’S BRIGHT COLORED SWEATSHIRT WILL SUFFICE. FOR TWO DECADES NOW, I WAS ONE OF THE YOUNGEST PEOPLE TO BE CERTIFIED. THE SELF-PROCLAIMED RADON MAN’S JOB HAS BEEN TO HELP PROTECT IOWANS FROM THE SILENT ASSASSIN. IS THERE A CERTAIN AGE OR TYPE OF HOME THAT YOU FIND TYPICALLY HAVE HIGHER RADON LEVELS? NO, IT DOESN’T SEEM TO MATTER. ALL OF THEM HAVE ABOUT THE SAME PERCENTAGE CHANCE OF FAILURE. AROUND 70% IS MUCH ABOVE THE ONE OUT OF 15 NATIONALLY. BUT SHEARER SAYS 100% OF IOWANS CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. EVERY HOUSE IS FIXABLE, AND THAT TESTING IS THE FIRST STEP. THESE ARE WHAT’S. CALLED CONTINUOUS RADON MONITORS. THESE ARE GENERALLY WHAT’S USED FOR REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS OR DO IT YOURSELF. CHARCOAL TEST KITS ARE JUST AS ACCURATE. THOSE TESTS COST BETWEEN 10 AND 20 BUCKS AND CAN BE FOUND AT HARDWARE STORES AND EVEN MANY COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENTS. AND THE LEVELS YOU’RE WATCHING FOR. THE EPA SAYS IF IT’S ABOVE FOUR, FIX IT. IF IT’S BETWEEN 2 AND 4, SERIOUSLY, CONSIDER FIXING IT. THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION STANDARDS ARE STRICTER. ANYTHING ABOVE 2.7 PICOCURIES PER LITER OF AIR IS TOO HIGH. AS FOR THE READINGS IN THIS HOME, THE LAST TEST WE JUST PICKED UP WAS 0.4, WHICH IS PRETTY MUCH THE SAME AS OUTSIDE AIR. SO THAT IS AN ALL CLEAR. SO YES. SO ALL THE RADON, IT’S THE SAME AS OUTSIDE AIR. YOU’RE SAFE BEING IN THE BASEMENT AS YOU ARE OUTSIDE. THAT’S THANKS TO STEP TWO. A RADON MITIGATION SYSTEM LIKE THIS ONE. WHAT THEY DO IS PULL STRONGER THAN THE NATURAL PRESSURE OF THE HOUSE. THIS ACTIVE MITIGATION SYSTEM USES A FAN TO PULL THE GAS THROUGH THIS PVC PIPING INSTALLED BELOW THE SLAB IN THE BASEMENT TO OUTSIDE OF THE HOME. IT JUST MITIGATES IT SAFELY OUTSIDE. SO NO RADON IS COMING INTO THE HOUSE. SHEARER DIDN’T INSTALL THIS UNIT, BUT SAYS THE AVERAGE ONE HE DOES INSTALL COST BETWEEN 14 TO $1500. WE ALWAYS SAY IT’S A LOT CHEAPER THAN LUNG CANCER. IT COST US $1,200 TO HAVE OURS INSTALLED. THAT WAS AROUND FIVE YEARS AGO. AFTER ADEL RESIDENT MARIA STEELE RECEIVED LIFE ALTERING NEWS. WOW. SO RADON HAS AFFECTED MY LIFE IN MANY WAYS. THE MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER, WHO WAS DIAGNOSED WITH STAGE FOUR LUNG CANCER, WHICH HAD SPREAD TO HER BONES. IT KIND OF JUST ROCKED MY WORLD AND WAS TOTALLY OUT OF LEFT FIELD. STEELE SAYS SHE DIDN’T SMOKE, AND HER RESEARCH INDICATED RADON COULD BE A CULPRIT, SO SHE TESTED HER HOME WITH ONE OF THOSE DO IT YOURSELF KITS. IT WAS DOUBLE WHAT IT SHOULD BE. AND I THOUGHT, WELL, MAYBE IT’S NOT REALLY. I’LL DO IT AGAIN. SO I, YOU KNOW, WENT TO A DIFFERENT HARDWARE STORE, GOT A DIFFERENT KIT, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, AND IT WAS STILL HIGH. THE NOW RETIRED NURSE PRACTITIONER SAYS SHE HAD A MITIGATION SYSTEM INSTALLED WITHIN THE WEEK. AND SHE RETESTS EVERY TWO YEARS, JUST LIKE SHEARER TELLS HIS CUSTOMERS TO DO, TO COMPENSATE FOR ANY CHANGES TO YOUR HOME’S FOUNDATION, LIKE SHIFTING THAT CAN CAUSE CRACKS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT. IT’S BECAUSE OF THE UNDERLYING GEOLOGY. WHAT IOWA IS BUILT ON. THAT’S WHAT DOCTOR BETSY SWANNER, A BIOGEOCHEMIST AND PROFESSOR IN THE DEPARTMENT OF EARTH, ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE AT IOWA STATE, SAYS IS THE SIMPLEST EXPLANATION FOR WHY RADON IS SO ABUNDANT IN OUR STATE. THE SOILS THAT WE LIVE ON ARE DERIVED FROM MATERIAL THAT WAS BROUGHT HERE BY GLACIERS FROM OTHER PARTS OF NORTH AMERICA, OR THEY WERE CREATED BY ROCKS THAT WERE DEPOSITED OUT OF AN OCEAN THAT WAS HERE IN THE DEEP PAST, SWANER SAYS. THESE MATERIALS CONTAIN A LOT OF URANIUM, WHICH CAN DECOMPOSE INTO RADON. RADON CAN ESCAPE THROUGH THE FRACTURES AND CRACKS IN OUR SOIL AND THEN INTO OUR HOMES AND BODIES. WHAT’S REALLY DANGEROUS IS THAT WE INHALE THAT RADON, AND WHILE IT’S IN OUR LUNGS, IT DECOMPOSES TO SOMETHING ELSE THAT’S A SOLID. AND THEN THAT SOLID IS STUCK IN OUR LUNGS AND COULD UNDERGO FURTHER RADIOACTIVE DECAYS AND RELEASE HARMFUL ENERGY AND PARTICLES INTO OUR BODIES. IT’S WHAT STEELE SAYS. HER DOCTOR, RICHARD DEMING, TOLD HER, COULD BE A PRIMARY CAUSE OF HER LUNG CANCER. AND HE SAID, YOU KNOW, MARIA, NO ONE CAN SAY WITH 100%. HOWEVER, YOU HAVE NO OTHER RISK FACTORS AND SAYS IT’S LONG OVERDUE THAT THE IOWA LEGISLATURE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE YEARS AGO. WE’VE HAD THE TECHNOLOGY. OTTUMWA REPRESENTATIVE HANS WILLS IS TRYING TO BE A VOICE FOR CHANGE. HE INTRODUCED MULTIPLE BILLS AND SUPPORTED ANOTHER THIS LEGISLATIVE SESSION THAT WOULD HELP IOWANS IN THEIR BATTLE AGAINST THE RADIOACTIVE GAS. WE’RE GOING TO TRY TO FIND WAYS TO PREVENT RADON FROM BEING IN YOUR HOME. ON WEDNESDAY, LEGISLATION THAT WOULD PROVIDE HOMEOWNERS UP TO A $1,000 TAX CREDIT TO INSTALL A MITIGATION SYSTEM UNANIMOUSLY ADVANCED TO THE FULL HOUSE FOR A VOTE. AND LAWMAKERS ARE STILL CONSIDERING TWO OTHER BILLS THAT WOULD REQUIRE NEW BUILDS INSTALL SYSTEMS AND PROVIDE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FOR FREE TESTING KITS. WILL SAYS THESE PIECES OF LEGISLATION COULD ALSO SAVE IOWANS TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN FUTURE MEDICAL BILLS. ALMOST EVERY STUDY TELLS YOU THAT EVERY DOLLAR SPENT ON RADON MITIGATION IS GOING TO SAVE YOU 20 TO 30, MAYBE EVEN $40 OF AVOIDED HEALTH CARE LATER ON IN LIFE, WILLS SAYS. WORK FOR THIS YEAR STARTED LAST SUMMER AFTER RADON LEGISLATION FAILED TO MAKE IT TO THE GOVERNOR’S DESK IN 2024. EVEN WITH THE SAME INFORMATION ABOUT ITS POTENTIALLY DEADLY IMPACTS LAWMAKERS HAVE IN FRONT OF THEM. NOW, I’M OPTIMISTIC. I THINK THIS IS A REAL ATTEMPT TO GET AS MANY THINGS FROM RADON DOWN THE ROAD, AND THE MESSAGING IS RIGHT. IT’S TRUE, IT’S REAL. IT AFFECTS ALL IOWANS. ACCORDING TO PROFESSOR SWARNER, THE PROBLEM OF IOWA BEING THE LEVEL IT’S AT IS A PROBLEM. IT’S NOT GOING AWAY, WHICH MEANS THE RADON MAN WILL CONTINUE ANSWERING CUSTOMER’S CALLS FOR HELP BECAUSE IOWA’S FIGHT IS JUST GETTING STARTED. AND DURING YESTERDAY’S COMMITTEE HEARING ON HOUSE BILL 211, LAWMAKERS SAID ONLY 1 IN 15 HOMES IN OUR STATE HAVE BEEN TESTED FOR RADON IN THE LAST TEN YEARS, DESPITE EVERY COUNTY IN OUR STATE BEING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF RISK. SO INTERESTING AND SCARY. YEAH, RIGHT. THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE IMPACTED IS CRAZY. JUST GET TESTED. GET YOUR HOME TESTED IF YOU CAN, AND IT