Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH)

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Keeping Your Home Safe From Radon

January 03, 2024

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Interviewee: Ellen Hahn, Ph.D.

In this episode, Ellen Hahn, Ph.D., discusses her work to increase radon awareness and testing in rural Kentucky and help residents take action to reduce their exposure at home.

Keeping Your Home Safe From Radon

Some homes in the U.S. harbor an invisible hazard — radon. Exposure to this colorless, odorless gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking. The chances of developing lung cancer are even greater when people are exposed to both radon gas and tobacco smoke.

In this podcast, we’ll hear from Ellen Hahn, Ph.D., who engages citizen scientists in rural Kentucky to test their homes for radon. Kentucky leads the nation in the incidence of new lung cancer cases, and researchers suspect that the individual or combined effects of tobacco smoke and radon exposure play a role. Hahn discusses her work to increase radon awareness and testing in Kentucky and help residents take action to reduce their exposure at home.

Interviewee:

Ellen Hahn

Ellen J. Hahn, Ph.D., is a professor in the Colleges of Nursing and Public Health at the University of Kentucky (UK). Hahn directs the NIEHS-funded Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences (UK-CARES) and the UK Bridging Research Efforts and Advocacy Toward Healthy Environments, or BREATHE, collaborative. She leads the NIHES-funded Residents Acting to Detect and Alleviate Radon (RADAR) project, which engages rural Kentucky residents in home radon testing and works to increase their understanding of radon health risks and exposure mitigation options.

In 2011, Hahn was named a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She was selected as the 2012 UK Provost’s Public Scholar and has served as an Ambassador for Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research (FNINR). In 2021, she received the Faye Glenn Abdellah Leadership Award from FNINR.

Resources:

References:

  • Stanifer S, Hoover AG, Rademacher K, Rayens MK, Haneberg W, Hahn EJ. 2022. Citizen science approach to home radon testing, environmental health literacy and efficacy. Citiz Sci 7(1):26. [Full Text]
  • Hahn EJ, Haneberg WC, Stanifer SR, Rademacher K, Backus J, Rayens MK. 2023. Geologic, seasonal, and atmospheric predictors of indoor home radon values. Environ Res Health. 1(2):025011. [Full Text]