Connecticut Public Health Department offers free radon test kits

In observance of January as National Radon Awareness Month, the Connecticut State Department of Public Health is offering free radon test kits to residents during January.

The kits can be obtained via an online form on the DPH Radon Program website. However, the Public Health Department noted that this offer will only be available “while supplies last.” Test kits can be purchased from the American Lung Association of New England and in hardware stores.

The agency said that radon is responsible for more than 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the United States and testing is recommended in the winter when radon tends to build up indoors. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends that homes with radon levels at or above 4.0 picoCuries per liter. A Curie is a unit of radioactivity equivalent to 1 gram of radium.  Pico means a trillionth.