The City of Mount Pearl is partnering with the Canadian Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists in encouraging residents to participate in the Radon Test Kit Challenge.
Radon is a colourless, odorless gas, that has been identified by Health Canada as the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers in the country.
Free test kits were available to the first 400 Mount Pearl residents who signed up, but after word got out on VOCM.com that the city was taking the initiative, all 400 were spoken for within 24 hours with another 100 people on the waiting list.
A similar program is in place in CBS as part of the 100 Radon Test Kit Challenge.
Steve Thorne of Transfer Radon, a local radon mitigation company, told VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly that while radon levels are usually higher in basements, they can also be detected on different floors of your house.
Photo via Canadian Cancer Society.
The Health Canada guideline according to Thorne, is 200 Bq/m3, which can be detected through a simple test. “There will be higher concentrations in your basement, but we’ve tested homes that have concentrations on the upper levels equal to thousands of x-rays a year.”
Thorne says if you have radon in your basement, not to worry, unless you spend significant time down there. Otherwise test kits should be placed not on the floor of upper stories, but at the level at which you spend most of your time.
“Never put it directly on the floor, Health Canada has a height, 80 cm from the floor—essentially we want to be testing in the same area that you’re breathing. You’re not breathing the air directly next to the floor, so you would raise it up a little bit.”
Thorne says mitigation is available if radon levels in your home test higher than the norm.
