Director: David Fiess, MPA, REHS • Phone: (260) 449-7459 • FAX: (260) 449-7460 • Email: dave.fiess@co.allen.in.us
Location: 2242 Carroll Rd, Fort Wayne, IN 46818 • Hours: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 4:30 p.m., Monday - Friday
Meet the Staff: Tom McCue, REHS, Asst. Director; Francis Koch, Env.Technician; Pat De Haven, Secretary; Seasonal Mosquito Technicians

Radon

Radon is a natural, radioactive gas that is colorless, tasteless, and odorless and has no warning symptoms with regard to health effects.  Long-term exposure to radon can lead to lung cancer.  It is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers and the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States of America (EPA). 

Radon gas is formed from the natural breakdown of uranium in the soil, rocks, and water under homes.  The gas seeps up from the ground into buildings through cracks in foundations, basement walls, and sump pumps. 

The United States is divided into Radon Zones.  Allen County is in Zone 1, meaning the area is at the highest risk of radon exposure.

The only way to know if you are being exposed to radon in your home is to run a test.  Free radon test kits are available through the Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health while supplies last. You can pick one up at the main office on the 5th floor of the City-County Building, 1 E. Main St., or at the Vector Control and Environmental Services office at 2242 Carroll Road.  Kits can also be purchased at hardware and home improvement stores for about $30.00.  If your test result is high, a mitigation system should be installed to remove the radon gas from beneath your home.  These systems can cost between $500 - $2500, with an average cost of $1200.

 

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More Articles:   General Information • FAQ • Animal Bites & Rabies • Bed Bugs • Children's Environmental Health Protection • Cockroaches • Indoor Air Quality • Meth Labs • Mold • Mosquitoes • Mosquitoes - Biology • Mosquitoes - Diseases • Mosquitoes - Prevention & Control • Pests & Other Vectors • Rats & Mice - Biology & Diseases • Rats & Mice - Control • Ticks • Unsanitary Conditions • Unwanted Refrigerators & Freezers • Integrated Pest Management

Photo Gallery

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  • This engorged American Dog Tick was pulled off a human. To prevent tick attachment, wear light-colored clothing, long pants with the bottoms placed into the top of socks, and apply a DEET-product to your clothing. Check your clothing and body after exiting a high grass or wooded area.
  • De-rimmed tires breed mosquitoes and can provide drinking water for rats. Culex species, ones that can carry WNv, and Ae. triseriatus, carrier of LaCrosse Encephalitis, use tires as a habitat when in the larval form. The sun heats the black rubber allowing for increased mosquito production, even when it is cool out. Tires should be properly disposed of or covered to prevent mosquito breeding.
  • A female Culex mosquito laying an egg raft, which can consist of 200-300 eggs.
  • Mold needs water to grow. Remove the water source and there won't be a mold problem.
  • The American dog tick is the largest tick in Indiana and can carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
  • Sticky traps are a great tool to catch cockroaches.
  • Rats like to eat grease, as can be seen in the pan on the stove.
  • Educating the public on Vector-borne diseases is an on-going effort.
  • Ae. triseriatus, a carrier of LaCrosse Encephalitis, lays her eggs in treeholes and containers.
  • Mosquito larvae
  • Cockroach infestation in kitchen cabinet.
  • Mosquitofish can be placed into ornamental ponds to eat mosquito larvae. The fish only get to be an inch in length.
  • Un-maintained swimming pools are perfect for breeding the mosquitoes that can carry West Nile virus.
  • Double whammy for mosquito breeding - uncovered boat with un-rimmed tire in it.
  • Notice the pop can the rats tried pulling into a burrow.
  • This rat ate poison bait stored in a secure station.
  • Bed bugs do not transmit diseases, but their bites can become infected if scratched too much.
  • Ingredients taken from a meth lab that was found in a house.
Did You Know?

Rats will eat the undigested food in your pet's droppings. It's wise to clean up after your pet daily.

 

Fort Wayne - Allen County Department of Health
1 E Main St, 5th Floor, Room 501 ♦ Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Phone: 260 449-7561 ♦ Email: info@allencountyhealth.com
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