Call, click or visit store today.
you've got to know. please go get tested. Two months later.. and thousands of Utahns have
listened to this Lehi woman's
plea.. to test their homes for
radon.
The results from all those
tests are alarming.. as you'll
see just how prevalent the
danger is.. across the state.
As you watch this story..
scan the QR Code on the screen
with your phone's camera.. and
you can order a test for your
home. Let's get out to News
Specialist Ladd Egan now..
with the update..
24-29120-126132-136307-312
As many Utahns have
discovered in the last two
months - the only way to know
if your home has elevated
levels of the cancer-causing
gas is to get a radon test.
KERRI ROBBINS, DIAGNOSED WITH
STAGE FOUR NON-SMOKING LUNG
CANCER:"EVERYTHING IS SO MUCH
MORE PRECIOUS NOW. SO MUCH
MORE PRECIOUS." It was
an emotional holiday season
for Kerri Robbins KERRI
ROBBINS, DIAGNOSED WITH STAGE
SMOKING LUNG CANCER: "BAKING
MY COOKIES. YOU SIT THERE AND
YOU WONDER, 'HOW MANY MORE
TIMES AM I GOING TO BE ABLE TO
BECAUSE I KNOW IT'S
LIMITED." She says
everything is different now
after her non-smoking lung
cancer diagnosis last fall
KERRI ROBBINS, DIAGNOSED WITH
STAGE FOUR NON-SMOKING LUNG
CANCER: "FOR THE FIRST TIME
EVER IN MY LIFE I WONDERED,
'IS HEAVEN LIKE CHRISTMAS?'"
She's grateful to still
have a good quality of life
and is using that energy to
alert others about radon gas
which was at very high levels
in her Lehi home. KERRI
ROBBINS: "I LOVE MY HOUSE. I
LOVE MY NEIGHBORHOOD. AND COME
TO FIND OUT THAT THAT'S
PROBABLY WHAT'S GIVEN ME
CANCER." After Kerri
shared her story with KSL in
November TJ MELLARS, UTAH
RADON SERVICES: "WITHIN AN
HOUR WE HAD ABOUT 2,000
REQUESTS FOR RADON TESTS."
That number has since grown
to more than 11-thousand
requested tests. Of those
back from the lab... about 50
percent are above the World
Health Organization's action
level. Utah Radon
Services provided 85-hundred
of those tests for free and
says no areas of the Beehive
State are exempt TJ MELLARS,
UTAH RADON SERVICES: "RADON
EXISTS IN ST. GEORGE, IN CEDAR
CITY. IN FACT, SOME OF THE
HIGHEST RADON EVER MEASURED IN
UTAH WAS IN BEAVER."
The radioactive gas forms
naturally in the ground and
enters homes through cracks or
spaces in the foundation.
HEIDI PARKER, TESTED HOME FOR
RADON:"I HAD NEVER THOUGHT
RADON WOULD BE IN MY HOME.
ESPECIALLY WHERE IT'S A NEW
HOME." Heidi Parker
lives a few streets away from
Kerri and decided to test once
learning of her diagnosis.
Her home came back at 19.7
picocuries per liter HEIDI
PARKER, TESTED HOME FOR RADON:
"I FELT NERVOUS FOR THE HEALTH
OF MY FAMILY."
That's far above the WHO and
EPA's action level of fixing a
home for radon. HEIDI PARKER,
TESTED HOME FOR RADON:
"ESSENTIALLY MY TWO KIDS THAT
ARE DOWNSTAIRS AND MY LITTLE
TWO-YEAR-OLD GRANDSON ARE
SMOKING 40 CIGARETTES A DAY."
Parker quickly got a
mitigation system installed
which captures the radon
underneath the foundation and
pulls it through a pipe out
and away from the home HEIDI
PARKER, TESTED HOME FOR RADON:
"OUR RADON LEVELS NOW ARE
UNDETECTABLE." She's
grateful her neighbor spread
the warning HEIDI PARKER,
TESTED HOME FOR RADON: "I GIVE
KERRI ALL THE CREDIT. WHO
KNOWS IF SHE SAVED ME FROM
CANCER OR MY TWO-YEAR-OLD
GRANDSON OR MY 17-YEAR-OLD?"
REBECCA WATSON, DRAPER
RESIDENT: "THIS HOUSE IS 53
YEARS OLD AND WE HAD NO IDEA."
KSL's interview with
Kerri also prompted Rebecca
Watson and her neighbors to
test their homes in Draper...
which she thought wasn't at
risk. REBECCA WATSON, DRAPER
RESIDENT: "I HAVE A WALK OUT
BASEMENT SO I THOUGHT I HAD
ENOUGH VENTILATION IN THIS
HOUSE." She's now
installing a mitigation system
after her test results came
back double the action level.
REBECCA WATSON, DRAPER
RESIDENT: "YOU CAN'T BE
COMFORTABLE IN YOUR HOUSE WHEN
YOU KNOW YOU HAVE HIGH LEVELS
OF RADON." :"I DON'T THINK
PEOPLE ARE REALLY AWARE OF THE
DANGER OF IT." ELEANOR DIVVER,
UTAH DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL
QUALITY: "THE RESPONSE HAS
BEEN OVERWHELMING."
Utah's Department of
Environmental Quality say's
Kerri's story is saving lives
ELEANOR DIVVER, UTAH DEPT. OF
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY: "PEOPLE
TESTING AND ASKING QUESTIONS."
They recommend testing
every two years because the
earth is constantly changing
beneath your homeELEANOR
DIVVER, UTAH DEPT. OF
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY: "WE HAD
A LOT OF PEOPLE CALL IN AND
SAY THAT THEIR RESULTS CHANGED
BECAUSE OF THE EARTHQUAKE."
If you first test in the
summer, they highly recommend
you also test in the winter
and say it doesn't matter if
you live on the benches or in
the valley ELEANOR DIVVER,
UTAH DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL
QUALITY: "THERE'S URANIUM IN
THE SOIL. THERE'S URANIUM IN
THE ROCK EVERYWHERE." KERRI
ROBBINS, DIAGNOSED WITH STAGE
FOUR NON-SMOKING LUNG CANCER:
"OUR LEVEL WENT FROM 31.3 TO
1.3. I FEEL SO MUCH MORE
COMFORTABLE IN MY HOUSE NOW."
Kerri says radon testing
is easy... and too important
to KERRI ROBBINS, DIAGNOSED
WITH STAGE FOUR NON-SMOKING
LUNG CANCER: "A HECK OF A LOT
CHEAPER THAN CANCER. MY CHEMO
DRUG IS $16,000 A MONTH."
And she won't stop speaking-up
until everybody knows. KERRI
ROBBINS, DIAGNOSED WITH STAGE
FOUR NON-SMOKING LUNG CANCER:
"I'M ON A MISSION. YEP, I'M ON
A MISSION. WE'RE GOING TO SAVE
LIVES." Kerri is unstoppable
we're glad she's doing well.
If you haven't followed the QR
Code... I've also got the
story up right now on KSL-TV
dot com with links on how to
order a test... and remember
that the results can
drastically different within
the same neighborhood. Back to
you.