Nearly five out of every seven homes in Iowa has high levels of radon.

January is designated as Radon Action Month in order to raise awareness about the odorless and colorless gas, which is second only to smoking as the leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Iowa has some of the highest radon levels in the nation. Assistant Guthrie County Sanitarian Mike Stringham says the reason for the high levels dates back to the Ice Age. “We had a lot of glaciers come through here and the last couple of them stopped right here above Iowa. They were pushing that rock in front of them and when the glaciers stopped all that rock was left and there’s where all the uranium was at.”

Stringham will tell us how to protect our homes from radon today on Let’s Talk Guthrie County. It airs during the 9 a.m., noon and 5 p.m. hours on K107.9 and www.raccoonvalleyradio.com.