22 | January 2023
sia (Montgomery County). All these areas
are considered Zone 1, meaning homes in
the area have the highest potential of ele-
vated radon levels compared to the rest of
the country.
Per Wisconsin Department of Health
Data, 50.8 percent of tests in Dane Coun-
ty showed 4.0 pCi/L levels or higher and,
in Waukesha County, 61.3 percent had
such elevated levels. In Pennsylvania, Le-
high County reported 46 percent of tests
above 4.0, 50 percent of tests in Berks
County were above 4.0, and Montgomery
County reported 28 percent of tests were
above 4.0.
"All homes have some levels, but when
they're elevated it's unsafe. Without a test
you won't know your health is in danger,"
Housley said. "Our company provides
healthy indoor air and radon is now a key
product line. We even offered employees
free tests because health really does begin
at the workplace as well as at home."
Travis Blackburn is one of those em-
chest x-rays per year or smoking eight cig-
arettes every day.
"It's estimated that nearly one in every
15 U.S. homes has elevated radon levels
and there's no way of knowing if yours
is one of them without testing," said Jens
Housley, AprilAire's senior category man-
ager for radon. "We are on a mission to
help people stay safe in their homes so, to
help raise awareness about radon, we're
giving away thousands of tests in our head-
quarters region of Milwaukee and Madison,
WI, as well as in the area of Allentown, PA,
all areas widely known for elevated levels."
More than 30 states are estimated to
have elevated radon levels and AprilAire
plans to help those residents stay safe
and healthy in their homes. The compa-
ny targeted three areas for the free test
kit giveaways: its hometown of Madison
(Dane County), near Milwaukee (Wauke-
sha County), and hot spots in Pennsylva-
nia including Allentown (Lehigh County),
Reading (Berks County), and King of Prus-
A
prilAire, the nationwide
leader in professional-grade
indoor air quality (IAQ)
solutions for the home
since 1954, is marking a
year in the radon mitigation business by
giving away thousands of radon tests this
month to Wisconsin and Pennsylvania
residents to mark National Radon Action
Month.
AprilAire switched up their company's
national strategy early last year to include
radon mitigation.
"Radon is the number 1 cause of lung
cancer in nonsmokers—as a leader in in-
door air quality, our venture into radon
control was a necessity," said AprilAire
Vice President of Product Marketing, Tom
Maskel. "Radon has historically been dis-
cussed during real estate transactions, and
now, as we integrate radon control into the
HVAC industry, our contractor partners
are having proactive conversations. This
proactive awareness has generated fantas-
tic success stories with homeowners that
were not already aware of the high radon
levels in their homes, which are now being
addressed through mitigation. There's still a
significant gap regarding radon education
and awareness and AprilAire is excited to
close that gap by leveraging our position
within the HVAC industry."
Radon is an odorless, colorless radio-
active gas that comes from the natural
decay of uranium found in nearly all soils
and it's the number one cause of lung
cancer in nonsmokers leading to an esti-
mated 21,000 deaths each year. Measured
by pCi/L (picocuries per liter of air), the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
recommends mitigation strategies when
radon levels are greater than or equal to
4.0 pCi/L – the equivalent of having 200
AprilAire Gives Away Free Radon Test Kits
