Health unit advises homeowners to test for radon
With 11 per cent of the 3,000 tested local homes showing higherthan-safe levels of radon, it begs the question: What about all the homes that have not been tested?
“It is something that should be on people’s radar,” Phil Wong, environmental health manager at the Windsor-essex County Health Unit said last week, speaking to a new report on Radon Gas Initiatives in Windsor-essex County.
Radon, a radioactive gas produced when naturally occurring uranium decays in the soil and rock beneath your home, is the No. 2 cause of lung cancer after smoking, Wong said.
“The one thing with radon is it is a silent killer. You don’t know it’s there. You can’t see it, taste it, smell it. You’ve got to test for it.”
In outdoor air, radon is diluted and isn’t a danger, but when it enters a home — usually through the basement — it can accumulate to high levels and exposure can lead to lung cancer. Sixteen per cent of all lung cancer deaths are attributed to radon.
A 2012 Health Canada report on radon concentrations in homes across Canada showed 13.8 per cent of Windsor-essex homes (based on 195 homes tested) had radon levels higher than the Canadian guideline of 200 becquerels per cubic metre. Nationally, 6.9 per cent of homes exceeded that 200 level, meaning the local rate was double the national rate. In recent years, the health unit conducted its own study, handing out about 1,000 test kits a year over three years. The results were pretty consistent with the Health Canada study, Wong said: an 11 per cent radon rate.
“The thing about radon is it really depends on your specific home,” he said. “Your neighbour could have high radon or low radon, and you would have a different number. Really, you need to test your own home.”
The health unit has been advocating for stepped-up vigilance when it comes to radon gas, and so was encouraged when local municipalities from Windsor to Chatham-kent, decided to adopt radon rough-in requirements on all new home construction starting Jan 1. That means the basements have to be constructed with the piping needed to vent away radon in case high levels are detected, Wong said.
At the latest meeting of the health unit’s board, Windsor Ward 2 Coun. Fabio Costante said: “It’s great we’ve made progress with new builds,” but asked what’s being done about existing houses. About all that’s available is public education campaigns and the radon testing kits, which cost $30 to $40 at local hardware stores, he was told.
The kits may be available, but the challenge for homeowners is what to do if you test for high radon in your home, said board member Judy Lund.
“We raise the concerns about this, but we really aren’t offering any solutions or direction,” she said. “Nobody knows who (which contractor) to go to, who’s legitimate to do this, and for an older home where they can’t afford it, what can they do?”
The board passed a motion asking for higher level of government (the province or feds) to provide some financial help for residents who have to retrofit their homes to deal with high levels of radon.
There are many kinds of radon mitigation, Wong said.
“It could be anything from just sealing up cracks, glazing windows in your basement.
“But if you want to do the large one, you’re installing vapour barriers, you’re actively removing the gas with a fan and bringing it outside so it doesn’t accumulate in your basement.”
He said the cost is also going to depend on the size of your house, but mitigation would usually cost more than $1,000.
Wong said there are two types of test kits: short-term and long term, and he recommends the long term because it gives you more of a general long-term average of the radon levels in your home. The cost of one of these kits includes sending your results for a lab analysis, which arrives a short time later by email.
You don’t know it’s there. You can’t see it, taste it, smell it. You’ve got to test for it.