Radon is the main cause of lung cancer in non-smokers in Canada. Here's how you can test your home

Radon is the number one cause of lung cancer in non-smokers in Canada. Kristin Carroll, regional radiation specialist with Health Canada, joined CTV Morning Live Edmonton to discuss how to test radon levels in your home.

 

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

 

Cory Edel: A study last month shows nearly one-in-five Canadians are living in homes with potentially dangerous levels of radon. November happens to be Radon Action Month, and Kristin has some ideas for you. Great to have you, because I think a lot of people, at least when we were having our morning meeting, were a little bit surprised about this and I think the general public as well. Radon is a big problem. Why don't you tell us about radon and where it comes from?

Kristin Carroll: It's a naturally occurring gas. It comes from the breakdown of uranium in the ground, and then it can potentially enter your home through any cracks, gaps along pipes, and build up to levels that can be dangerous. The high levels are the number one cause of lung cancer in non-smokers in Canada.

Cory: Wow. How many deaths a year could be attributed to possible radon?

Kristin: It’s about 3,000 deaths across Canada a year.

Cory: That's pretty significant. I guess a lot of people just aren't aware that radon is coming up through their basements and causing these problems?

Kristin: No, so we hope to try and raise some awareness about it and encourage Canadians to be testing their homes.

Cory: How do we go about doing that?

Kristin: We recommend buying one of these little long term test kits. You can buy these online from takeactiononradon.ca, and they'll ship it to your home. All you have to do is unpack it and put it on a shelf. The hardest part is remembering where you put it after three months, so you can send it back to the lab. They'll typically email you what your results are.

Cory: Where should we be placing it?

Kristin: We recommend putting them on the lowest lived-in level of your home. If you have a teenager's basement or bedroom in the basement, or if you have a family room that you're using, put it down there. If you never use your basement, put it in your living room, for example.

Cory: If we discover that we do have high levels of radon coming into our home, what is the solution now?

Kristin: We recommend that you hire a certified professional through the Canadian National radon proficiency program. They'll come in and do an assessment of your home, but the most typical solution is called an “active soil depressurization.” Which is this little guy down here. They'll drill into your slab, create a venting point outside and attach a fan. Pretty straightforward, about a day of work.

Cory: That's not too bad. Something really cool is, if you don't have that, but your house was built in 2015, or later, it's already roughed in.

Kristin: Yeah, you'll have the start of what that system looks like. The pipe that will go underneath your foundation there, they just cap it. This isn't doing anything to help the radon, but if you do test and you test high, it will help reduce the cost of making the full mitigation system.

Cory: So there are ways to mitigate it, but still not completely getting rid of it?

Kristin: Yes. It is about 90 per cent effective if you install one of these systems.

Cory: Is there an acceptable amount of radon that we can live with?

Kristin: There sure is. Our guideline level is 200 becquerels per metre cubed. If you test above that, we recommend that you take action and install one of these mitigation systems within a year. If you're below that, retest in five to 10 years, or if you do any major renovations to your home.

Cory: Thank you for talking with us about radon. For more information, please visit the Health Canada website, canada.ca/radon.