R a d o n i n G e o r g i a

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1 R a d o n i n G e o r g i a GREP is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the Georgia Department of Community Affairs Office of Planning and Environmental Management St. George Episcopal School Radon Program One of the programs the Georgia Radon Program conducted this quarter was for middle and high school students at St. George Episcopal School in Milner (Lamar County), Georgia. This program was planned after one of the school s sciences teachers attended a radon program hosted by a local county extension office. Creating and strengthening community connections such as these is one of the main ways we are able to communicate the message of testing homes for radon across the state. This particular program was held after lunch in a free period so that several different classes across grades were able to attend. The students were very attentive and, per usual with classroom programs, asked several of the same questions adults ask concerning testing for radon. Some students did have quite the imaginative thought process, however, and came up with several scenarios where we had to decide where the best place to hang a test kit would be or came up with ideas on how to construct a science project testing the levels of radon throughout a home. Because the audience at this particular program was mostly students, we provided information they could bring home to give their parents or guardians about testing for radon and how they could obtain a kit. We received several orders soon citing this program as how homeowners learned about our program. The Georgia Radon Program looks forward to working with St. George Episcopal school again in the future.

2 Athens-Clarke County Employee Health Fair The Georgia Radon Program has participated in the Athens-Clarke County Employee Health Fair for the past several years and this year was no exception. The program had an exhibit equipped with games and promotional materials about testing homes for radon. We had approximately 120 direct contacts throughout the day. Many health fair attendees stopped by to mention they had tested their homes because of our presence at previous health fairs or other programs we have done throughout the year. Testing homes for radon sometimes doesn t get quite the publicity we feel it should, so we do oftentimes rely heavily on word-of-mouth referrals. Speaking with so many people who have either tested their homes before or who are deciding to test because their co-worker said they should is a great way for us to know that we are making an impact within our community. Indian Creek Middle School Radon Programs The Georgia Radon Program was invited back to Indian Creek Middle School in Newton County this year to provide radon education for all the 8th grade science classes. The science teachers had taught the students about noble gases, the period table, and other characteristics of chemistry previously in the year so the students had a good grasp on the details of radon. This also meant they were able to deduce some information about the gas. For example, when the students were shown the atomic weight of the element they were able to determine that radon is fairly heavy and further deduced that more of it would likely be found on lower levels of the home. Having the students think through some aspects of radon was a great way for them to understand the concepts and importance of testing.

3 R a d o n O u t r e a c h PROGRAM CONTACTS Programs-Meetings 2 Participants 155 Materials Distributed 350 Exhibits-Events 1 Participants 117 Materials Distributed 350 OTHER CONTACTS Contacts 154 Medical Professionals 2 Home Builders Realtors 2 Consumer Contacts 150 KIT USAGE DATA Kits Distributed 361 Results Received 293 > 4.0 pci/l 96 < 4.0 pci/l 175 Incomplete 22 % > 4.0 pci/l 35% Highest Level 44.0 pci/l MITIGATION DATA RRNC 2 Mitigations 3 Mitigation Referreals 115 MEDIA IMPRESSIONS Radio Listeners Television Viewers Newspaper Circulation Newsletter 1 Distribution 49 Local Web Hits 4 GA SIRG Web Hits 5 1,975 TOTAL IMPRESSIONS 1Other includes radon education/results of former educators & county FACS/4-H Agents. 2Reported annually by Southface and building professionals 3Mitigation & RRNCs completed by Certified Mitigators are reported annually. 4Began tracking Jan 1, Web hits for are shared equally among the radon educators.

4 R a d o n O u t r e a c h PROGRAM CONTACTS Hall DeKalb Gwinnett Elbert Walton Southface Other 1 s Programs / Meetings , ,714 Participants 10,093 4,335 15,112 3,866 23,080 17,946 2,099 76,531 Materials Distributed 18,302 11,441 15,887 6,595 46,547 9, ,031 Exhibits or Events Participants 48,479 6, ,287 11, ,033 13,798 2, ,129 Materials Distributed 104,850 8,947 50,145 8,057 26,470 1,296 1, ,111 OTHER CONTACTS Hall DeKalb Gwinnett Elbert Walton Southface Other s Direct Contacts 8,290 1,385 1, ,507 12, ,193 Medical professionals ,857 Home builders , ,945 Realtors ,864 Consumer Contacts 6,755 1, ,015 1, ,527 KIT USAGE DATA Hall DeKalb Gwinnett Elbert Walton Southface Other s Kits Distributed 11,266 4,275 7,895 2,893 12,183 5,192 4,600 48,304 Test Results Received 4,772 1,622 2,477 1,354 6,309 1, ,443 Highest Level MITIGATION DATA Hall DeKalb Gwinnett Elbert Walton Southface Other s Mitigation Referrals 1, ,618 Mitigations 2 6,451 RRNC 3 1,480 MEDIA IMPRESSIONS Hall DeKalb Gwinnett Elbert Walton Southface Other s Radio Outreach , ,503 Listening Audience 4,847,000 3,670,000 10,000 4,020,000 2,693,000 2, ,000 15,619,000 TV Outreach ,654 Viewing Audience 25,170,100 12,733,000 73,981,740 15,080 27,894,200 1,328,000 8,385, ,507,120 Newspaper Outreach Circulation 1,951,200 3,223,000 1,304, ,800 3,545, ,500 10,248,766 Newsletter Outreach Distribution 179, ,746 9,215 1,832, ,048 6,054 2,946,962 Local Web Hits ,044 20, , ,662 State Web Hits 6 77,368 51, ,664 TOTAL IMPRESSIONS 32,163,162 19,642,767 75,349,377 4,214,569 35,992,403 2,284,344 8,837, ,484,176 1Other includes radon education/results of former radon educators and county FACS/4-H Agents. 2Reported annually by Southface and building professionals 3Certified GA mitigators reported their mitigations & RRNCs annually through Began tracking Jan. 1, UGA Radon Program web hits are shared equally among the 5 radon educators

5 RADON RESOURCES & CONTACTS Georgia Indoor Radon Grant Administration Adriane Wood, Grant Coordinator Georgia Department of Community Affairs Office of Planning and Environmental Management 479 Cherry Street, Macon, GA Radon Hotline Numbers National Hotlines Kansas State University / EPA SOS-RADON ( ) 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday Friday National Hispanic Indoor Air Quality The Radon Fix It Line: (National Safety Program) Get live help for your radon questions RADON ( )* Radon Fix-It Hotline General information on reducing radon levels * Safe Drinking Water Hotline * Operated by Kansas State University in partnership with EPA The Georgia Radon Education Program is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the Georgia Department of Community Affairs Office of Planning and Environmental Management, in partnership with the University of Georgia College of Family & Consumer Sciences Cooperative Extension. Dr. Pamela R. Turner, Director prturner@uga.edu UGA Radon Program Team Like us on Facebook! Gabrielle Dean, Extension Educator gab589@uga.edu