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 January 25-29, 2021:
Northern Mississippi
- Lee County Public Library, Tupelo
- Starkville/Oktibbeha Public Library, Starkville
- Carrollton/North Carrollton Public Library, North Carrollton
- Elizabeth Jones Public Library, Grenada
- Indianola/Sunflower Public Library, Indianola
- Greenwood/Leflore Public Library, Greenwood
- Humphreys County Public Library, Belzoni
Central Mississippi
- B.S. Ricks Public Library, Yazoo City
- Fannie Lou Hamer 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
For more information on radon exposure, visit the MSDH website at www.HealthyMS.com/radon.
