(Atlantic, IA) – Cass/Guthrie County Environmental Health Executive Director Jotham Arber, Tuesday morning, provided a monthly report to the Cass County Board of Supervisors. Arber said they’re coming to a close of the perc (percolation) test season. A perc test determines how quickly soil absorbs water, a critical step before installing a septic system.

He said also, they’re working on their radon detection project.

Radon is an odorless, colorless, radioactive gas that forms from the natural decay of uranium in soil and rocks. It can accumulate in buildings, posing a health risk, particularly lung cancer, as it is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking. Jotham Arber said they suggest people test in multiple areas of their homes, for multiple days.

He said they have ordered 12 devices for testing that should arrive by the end of this month.

He noted, older homes that are breezier, tend to have lower radon levels…until they are sealed for the winter. Once they are sealed-up the radon tends to pool in a home more than if there is good air flow. Arber says the latest radon testing devices are Wi-Fi enabled, so the readings are transmitted directly to the Environmental Health Department. The ultimate goal of getting the test results, he says, in addition to learning where the higher concentration of radon is found, is to try and get a local database of radon mitigators.

Jotham Arber says radon awareness is an important enough issue that his office, which also covers Adair and Audubon Counties, is taking it on separately from the State level.