Take Action to Prevent Radon Buildup in Your Home
Be Radon Aware!
November is Radon Awareness Month. Awareness is the first step but it doesn’t fix the problem. You need to take action to reduce your chances of getting lung cancer from long term radon exposure.
What is radon? Radon is a colourless and odourless radioactive gas. It comes from uranium in the soil. Outdoors, radon is diluted in the air so it does not build up to harmful levels. When radon is indoors, it can accumulate to higher levels and can cause lung cancer (BC Lung Foundation Healthy Indoor Environments Program). Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers and kills over 3,000 Canadians every year (https://www.radonkills.ca/).
Why is it in my home? Radon is present in every home in Canada at some level (https://www.radonkills.ca/). Radon can enter the home from the ground, through unfinished basement floors, cracks in the floor, windows, sump pumps, and pipes (https://www.lung.ca/radon). All Canadian homes have radon gas in them. You can look at the BC Radon map here. The question is: are the radon levels in your home high? Luckily, there is a way to find out! You can test for radon and it’s a fairly simple process.
How can I test for radon in my home? They key is to take action to get a radon test kit and use it. Radon test kits are available for rent (in some locations) and for purchase. BC Lung Foundation and “Take Action on Radon” have joined forces to offer free test kits in some BC locations. Have a look at this website to see if your area is included (https://bclung.ca/radon-community-testing-bc).
There are many radon test kits available on the market but they are not all created equally. There are 2 types of radon test kits. Short term and long term. Short term tests can give you a quick results for situations such as the purchase of a new home, or if radon levels are known to be high in your area and you want to take action quickly to reduce them. Short term test results have been shown to be inaccurate. A long term test takes 90 days or more and provides an accurate average of radon levels and can be used to decide if you need to take action to reduce the radon levels in your home. The BC Lung Foundation recommends that a short term test always be followed by a long term test.
The Canadian National Radon Proficiency Program regularly assesses publicly available test kits to provide consumers with an unbiased performance-based comparison of the test kits. You can find out more information about the C-NRPP service here , and their kit comparison chart here. The C-NRPP also provides guidance about how to do a radon test in your home. The test kit should be left in place for at least 3 months to obtain a long-term average value. As we know, short term test results may be inaccurate. The C-NRPP provides a list of radon test kit retailers to help guide your purchase.
How do I get radon out of my home? Radon builds up in our homes from the ground up! It comes from the ground and gets trapped indoors. Radon mitigation should be done by a Certified Radon Professional. You can find a certified professional and more information about hiring one on the Government of Canada, Radon - Reduction Guide for Canadians website.
The Canadian Lung Association offers a Home Radon Mitigation Program that provides financial assistance to low-income families to help make the necessary changes to remove radon from their homes.
Our hope is that by spreading awareness, we can convince people to take action against radon. Being aware is only the first step. Action is needed to protect yourself and your family. Get a test kit. Run the test for a minimum of 3 months. If radon levels in your home are high, take steps to change that. You CAN make a difference!
People with lung cancer from radon exposure are starting to speak out. They are suffering and they want to prevent others from getting lung cancer from radon. Let’s start with our own homes and protecting those we love. Set yourself a goal to get a test kit this week! You’ll be glad you did.