For immediate release: Dec. 26, 2019
Laura Dixon, Communications Manager
303-692-3373, laura.dixon@state.co.us
DENVER: Students from Windsor and Montrose took top honors in this year’s radon awareness poster contest.
Hunter from Windsor Middle School won first place out of more than 300 entries. He earned $300 for his submission, and his poster will be entered in the National Radon Poster Contest, sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Also, his poster will be displayed on the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s (CDPHE) radon website www.coloradoradon.info for 2020.
Asher, also from Windsor Middle School, earned second place and $200. Addison, from Columbine Middle School in Montrose, received third place and $100.
“This contest is a fun way to educate children and encourage residents to test their homes for radon,” said Chrystine Kelley, radon program manager for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “Radon testing is easy to do, and it’s the only sure way to tell whether or not your home is affected by radon, which occurs naturally in the soil.”
The teachers of the top three students received $100 gift cards as well.
Long-term exposure to radon — a colorless and odorless radioactive gas — is the most frequent cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers and the second-leading cause of lung cancer in smokers. Exposure to radon is responsible for approximately 21,000 lung cancer deaths in the United States each year.
For more information about radon and to see the winning poster, visit www.coloradoradon.info.
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