IEMA, ALA-IL Launch Teen Video Contest during Radon Action Month
High school students encouraged to create YouTube video promoting awareness of radon health hazards

SPRINGFIELD – Seeking an innovative way to spread the message about radon’s health hazards, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and the American Lung Association in Illinois (ALA-IL) today launched the “2010 Illinois High School Radon Video Contest.” The agencies are encouraging high school students throughout the state to create 60-second YouTube videos about radon, a radioactive gas that causes an estimated 1,100 lung cancer deaths in Illinois each year.

The video contest highlights activities in Illinois during Radon Action Month in January. Other organizations supporting the video contest include the University of Illinois Extension Office, Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Region 5.