SALT LAKE CITY — One in three Utah homes has elevated levels of radon — an invisible, odorless, radioactive gas.
The only way to know if a home is at risk is to test it — and five Utah students whose messages are most convincing could each win $100 in the 2021 National Radon Poster Contest.
The annual contest invites students ages 9-18 to design a poster explaining what radon is, where it comes from, how it gets into homes, its link to lung cancer or how to test for it.
To learn more about radon, check out the Deseret News’ special report on radon and why Utah has the lowest smoking rate in the nation, but loses more people to lung cancer than any other cancer.
The contest is divided into categories by grades: fouth-sixth, seventh-ninth and 10th-12th. First-place winners in each grade category and their teacher will each receive $100. Two additional student winners will be chosen based on public voting. Students can be enrolled in a public, private, charter, territorial, tribal, Department of Defense school or home school to participate.
Members of a sponsoring club, such as a scouting organization or an art, computer, science or 4-H club also are eligible.
There is no entry fee, but only one entry per student is allowed.
The entry deadline is Oct. 22, 2020. For poster contest submission forms, topics and rules visit www.radon.utah.gov or watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&reload=9&v=5afOJgeAUc8&feature=youtube
The public can vote for their favorite posters online at www.radon.utah.gov from Nov. 5-12.
Posters will be judged based on accuracy, how well the message is communicated, reproducibility and originality.
The contest is a joint effort between the Utah Department of Environmental Quality’s Radon Program, the CDC Epidemiology Tracking Program, local health departments and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
More information about contest eligibility, radon test kits and radon contractors is available at www.radon.utah.gov or by calling Utah’s Radon Hotline at 1-800-458-0145.
Provided by Utah DEQ