Colorado Students Invited to Enter National Radon Poster Contest: Students: Parents and Teachers Can Win Washington, D.C. Trip

DENVER - The National Safety Council, in partnership with the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, is sponsoring a Radon Poster Contest for children ages 9-14 enrolled in a public, private, territorial, tribal, Department of Defense or home school. Members of a sponsoring club, such as a scouting organization or art, computer, science or 4-H club, also are eligible. There is no entry fee, and only one entry per student is allowed. The entry deadline is Oct. 15, 2007.

Poster topics must include one of the following subjects: what is radon, where does radon come from, how does radon get into our homes, radon can cause lung cancer or test your home for radon. Winners and runners-up in each category and from each state and territory will be entered in the national contest.

The winning national poster will be unveiled at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., in January 2008, and will be reproduced and distributed nationally. The national winner, a parent and a teacher or sponsoring organization's representative will win an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in the ceremony.

"Radon awareness is particularly important in Colorado," said Joe Vranka, radiation program manager for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. "Fifty-two out of the state's 64 counties are at high risk for radon, a colorless, odorless, tasteless radioactive gas that is the second leading cause of lung cancer."