The Indoor Environments Association, formerly known as AARST, addresses radon, vapor intrusion, and other contaminants of concern in the built environment.

Volume 17   •  No. 10 •  October 2024

News and Events for the Radon and Vapor Intrusion Industry

Table of Contents
Free Smoking Cessation Program Continues
Public Review of MS-PC 2022 & MS-QA 2023: Comment Deadline Oct. 7th
IEA – ALA Lung Cancer Awareness Month Webcast
Study Shows Association between Radon and Leukemia
Certification Council Seats Open
Radon Music Video Winner Announced
Join the ARPC – Your support is needed now more than ever

Free Smoking Cessation Program for Radon & Vapor Intrusion Professionals and Their Families

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The Indoor Environments Association is excited to announce the launch of a new campaign, which began August 1st, in partnership with the American Lung Association.

You can now access the Freedom From Smoking® Plus program for FREE, a $99.95 value! This digital quit smoking program helps you or your loved ones create a personalized quit plan and provides a full year of support with expert guidance and resources. This is available to all IEA members, radon and VI professionals, and their families. For more information and to sign up, CLICK HERE.

Public Review: MS-PC 2022 (Radon Test Device Specs) & MS-QA 2023 (Radon Testing Quality Assurance)

Consistent with plans relative to our continuous maintenance program, the latest publications of ANSI/AARST MS-PC and ANSI/AARST MS-QA are being published for public review.

MS-PC Performance Specifications for Instrumentation Systems Designed to Measure Radon Gas in Air

This standard specifies minimum performance criteria and testing procedures for instruments and/or systems designed to quantify the concentration of 222Rn gas in air.

MS-QA Radon Measurement Systems Quality Assurance

This standard of practice specifies minimum requirements for quality systems designed to quantify the concentration of 222Rn gas in air by qualified professionals and laboratories, whose data are intended to be used to determine the need for, or success of, radon mitigation.

To access content for public review, please CLICK HERE. Deadline for Comments is October 7th, 2024.

Join IEA & ALA for Lung Cancer Awareness Month Webcast

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. November 21st marks the annual Great American Smokeout Tobacco Awareness Holiday. Considering tobacco smoke and radon exposure are the two leading causes of lung cancer, and exposure to both heightens the probability of developing the disease, it is important to acknowledge the benefits of radon exposure risk reduction and the benefits of tobacco cessation, and to help link individuals and their families across the U.S.with proven effective strategies for eliminating these risk factors.

Join presenters from the American Lung Association and the Indoor Environments Association as they discuss the impact of radon-smoking synergy and explore proven-effective strategies, tips, and tricks to obtaining and maintaining a tobacco-free lifestyle for good. Register for the Radon-Smoking Synergy: Proven-Effective Strategies to Lower Your Risk for Lung Cancer webcast CLICK HERE.

Certification Council Seats Open for Applications
Thanks to Outgoing Members

NRPP would like to thank two outgoing members of the Certification Council: Owen Reese and Matt Hendrick. The leadership you provided has increased the awareness and integrity of NRPP’s certification programs and improved NRPP’s certification policies. We will miss your guidance and support.

NRPP is seeking applicants for the following seats with terms starting November 1, 2024: Consumer Interests, Radon Laboratory, Radon Equipment Manufacturer, Vapor Intrusion, and Certified States. If you are interested in providing governance and oversight of NRPP’s certification programs, please review the qualifications here and apply by completing this form and attaching your resume or bio.

Read the September Issue of The Radon Reporter

IEA Announces Winner of Radon Music Video Contest

The Indoor Environments Association held its first Music Video Contest in July-August. The contest challenge was to create a short (< three minutes) music video using an existing song, changing the original lyrics to words that promote radon awareness and/or testing. The contest was advertised through the IEA monthly e-newsletter Rn Biz and social media.

Read the full post and watch the winning video and the other three great entries CLICK HERE.

NRPP Update: Pilot Questions Added to Exams

NRPP added pilot questions to its exams starting on October 1, 2024. Ten (10) pilot questions were added to the Radon Measurement Field Technician (RMFT) and Radon Mitigation Installer (RMI) exams, increasing the total number of questions on each of those exams from 85 to 95. Fifteen (15) pilot questions were added to the Radon Measurement Professional (RMP) and Radon Mitigation Specialist (RMS) exams, increasing the number of questions on those exams from 150 to 165.

Pilot questions are unscored questions, meaning the responses do not count for or against the test-takers’ exam scores. Adding pilot questions to the exams allows NRPP to “try out” newly written questions to determine if they are fair and can be used in the future as scored questions. The goal is to expand the “bank” of solid, well-written questions that NRPP’s test developers can draw from to create new exams.

NRPP collects diagnostic information for each question and calculates statistics such as difficulty and discrimination. If a question doesn’t perform well – for example, if nobody gets it correct – it is either revised and pilot tested again or removed from the bank so it won’t be on an exam in the future. By knowing how questions perform before using them as scored questions, NRPP will enhance the quality of exams and help to ensure that the exams are fair and reliable indicators of the test-takers’ knowledge. The addition of 15 questions to the RMP and RMS exams is not expected to greatly lengthen testing time; currently, test-takers rarely use the full three hours and, on average, complete the RMP and RMS exams in 90 minutes or less.

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Radon in the News – Childhood Leukemia

A recent study led by a professor at Oregon State University has revealed a connection between radon exposure and childhood leukemia, even at levels below federal guidelines for mitigation. This groundbreaking research analyzed over 700 counties across the U.S., shedding light on the broader health risks of radon beyond lung cancer. Radon, an odorless, invisible gas, has long been recognized as a leading cause of lung cancer. But this study highlights the urgent need for more research into its impact on children’s health. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡. Read the Newsweek article about this important study and why further research is critical.

Read the Study: Bozigar, M., Konstantinoudis, G., Zilli Vieira, C. L., Li, L., Alwadi, Y., Jones, R. R., & Koutrakis, P. (2024). Domestic radon exposure and childhood cancer risk by site and sex in 727 counties in the United States, 2001–2018. Science of The Total Environment, 954. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176288

NRPP Certification Renewal Reminder: Devices

If you hold an NRPP radon measurement certification, use an analytical testing device, and have completed and passed a device performance test (DPT) at least once with that particular device, then you may be able to bypass the DPT process for your next renewal.

Many manufacturers of NRPP-approved devices have developed device-specific training courses, which can be taken in lieu of another performance test, saving you time and money on your certification renewal. To check whether your device has a specific course, CLICK HERE and scroll down to Device-Specific Training Courses.

PLEASE NOTE: Device training courses are only for certification renewals, not for initial certification / device registration. If you are adding on a new analytical device to your account at any time, a device performance test must first be completed and passed.

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Chapter / Regional Meetings

Check Out the Program from Indoor Environments 2024 in Orlando

Welcome to the Newest
Members of the
Indoor Environments Association!

Allen Tapp (OH), Amber Johnson (TX), Andrea Grabowski (OH), Ben Froehlich (OH), Benjamin C. Grable (OH), Bernard Dodd (OH), Beverly Sedon (OH), Brian C West (OH), Brian Faehner (OH), Brian Masters (OH), Christopher Hosey (OH), Chuck Balazs Jr (OH), Cindy Cordell (KY), Craig Limbach (OH), Daniel Lewis (OH), DANIEL SPENN (OH), David J Wolfe (OH), Dean Rankin (OH), Dena M Sabbagh (OH), Dillon Otting (OH), Jake Griffith (IN), James Peter Mann (OH), Jeanne Hoffman (OH), Jeff Weimer (OH), Jeffrey Spivack (FL), John Bentley (OH), John C Hoyne (ID), John Cordell (OH), John Hillard (OH), Jon Hartley (IN), Kevin Clouse (OH), Mason Gibson (OH), Milton Yee (OH), Paul Morgan (OH), Randy Reinhart (OH), Ray Williams (OH), Robert Orr (CO), Roger Frommer (OH), Ron Mann (OH), Ronald Farnsworth (AK), Roy L Wier (IA), Sam Nunemaker (KS), Steve Howard (OH), Steve Wolfe (OH), Steven J. Klima (IN), Steven Lee (OH), Steven Palmison (OH), Terry Haynie (OH), Tim Paine (OH), Timothy Wayne Tucker (IN), Tom Buckley (OH)

Welcome to the Newest
NRPP-Certified Professionals!

Alex Calderon (CO), Alexandre R Paoli (KY), Ashley Wilkins (VA), Brandi K Udell (CO), CHARLES BAUGH (TX), Christine McCarl (PA), Collin Benjamin (NC), Cristian M Burgos (UT), Dace S Huston (ID), Dale Rex (UT), Darrian Kent (GA), David A Ellis-Skelton, CMI (TN), Dwight D Sims (OH), Edwin Jenkins (CO), Garrett Ito (HI), George Barry (MN), Gregory S Scarpone (IN), Heather Forrest (TX), James D Kurek (OH), James W. (Duke) Hunt (NC), Jeffery M Emmett (CO), Jon Hartley (IN), Jonah Lowry (IN), Joseph Harr (NC), Joseph McCaslin (NE), Joshua L Kleider (CO), Kelvin R Franklin (TX), Kevin A Marshall (IN), Leif Hansen (NE), Martin Medeiros (CO), Matthew Guthrie (SC), Michael A Stansbury (MD), Michael Pride (PA), Patrick R Seng (KY), Paul Cleland (CO), Peter D Rhoden (FL), Philip Haas (ME), Richard L Mines (WV), Robert Ibarra (CA), Stephen J Kostro (IL), Theodore N Zounis (CO), Thomas R Woodford (NY), Timothy A Bienias (MN), Tyler Storgaard (CO), Vince Depalma (PA), Zachary D Schultz (MI), Zachary Fields (MO)

Editorial Content Wanted: Indoor Environments Association (AARST) publishes content over two platforms. We are interested in radon and vapor intrusion interest stories, technical papers, business topics, health advancements/detection regarding radon-related issues, and more. Please submit content for consideration to editor@aarst.org.

Indoor Environments Association is a nonprofit, professional organization of members who are dedicated to the highest standard of excellence and ethical performance of hazard identification and abatement of radon, chemical vapor intrusion, and other contaminants of concern in the built environment. The organization primarily strives to advance the interests of its members through developing industry standards, certifying technical proficiency, enabling advancement of public policy, and communicating health risks to the public.