Radon on the RADAR

Kentucky’s extremely high radon potential and high smoking rates create the perfect storm for the overrepresentation of lung cancer cases. Our transdisciplinary, community-academic team-led project, Radon on the RADAR (Residents Acting to Detect and Alleviate Radon), responds to a community concern about the high rates of lung cancer in rural KY. To address this concern, we will identify geological and atmospheric conditions that increase radon intrusion into homes, translate this knowledge into increased residential awareness of radon and tobacco smoke risk, facilitate home radon testing using the newest radon detection technology (i.e., Airthings), and most importantly, increase access to affordable and adequate radon mitigation. Geologists and citizen scientist teams will evaluate Airthings and conduct in-depth analyses of home radon sources over time to close a critical knowledge gap in our understanding of radon risk. The RADAR study will build capacity in environmental health by: (a) training community residents in rigorous data collection and interpretation of findings; (b) engaging residents in creating and promoting library loan programs to increase radon testing; and (c) creating sustainable environmental health action plans to alleviate radon exposure in rural communities. Home testing for environmental hazards without providing a way to remediate is an environmental justice challenge. *Aim 1 will use a citizen science approach to identify and train 60 community residents in four KY counties to test for radon and evaluate change in environmental health literacy and self-efficacy. *Aim 2 will compare observed indoor home radon values and soil radon values over time using different radon monitoring devices in citizen scientists’ homes, controlling for atmospheric conditions, seasonality, geology, topography, and smoking in the home. *Aim 3 will create and evaluate a pilot radon testing equipment library loan program with 400 homeowners in the four counties. *Aim 4 will launch the radon testing equipment library loan program with 4,320 residents and examine the change, annually, in information-seeking behaviors, including home testing and accessing geologic maps. *Aim 5 will examine the impact of citizen scientist-led radon coalitions on reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, maintenance, and environmental health literacy. The RADAR study challenges and expands the current environmental health science paradigm by collaborating with geologists and integrating their scientific approach. We will impact community concerns about high lung cancer rates by: 1) transforming radon detection using geoscience and new radon gas detection technology; 2) developing a library-lending approach to increase radon testing; and 3) supporting environmental action by creating and sustaining citizen scientist-led radon coalitions that engage low-interest loan providers and certified radon mitigation companies to support affordable and adequate mitigation in rural communities.