Health Canada is pleading with Canadian homeowners to have their homes tested for radon as soon as possible while the organization reviews the mid-way point results of its Government of Canada Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations of Homes.
At just the end of last year, Canada’s Minister of Health, Leona Aglukkaq, released a statement to the press implying that at the end of their first year of conducting the survey, it had become apparent that many Canadians are in danger from excessive radon levels in their homes. The number of homes across Canada with unsafe radon levels is 7% so far, which is much higher than the government had originally predicted. “You can’t see it, smell it, or taste it,” she said in the release, “the only way to know if you have a radon problem is to test your home.”
Radon is a byproduct of uranium breaking down in the soil. It is a radioactive gas and is also the second-highest cause of lung cancer in Canada behind smoking. Levels across Canada are different depending on the soil makeup of the area in question: Ontario, the Yukon Territory and Nova Scotia tend to have higher numbers of homes with unsafe levels of radon, but there are small patches of dangerous areas all over the country.
Unsafe levels of radon are those above 200 becquerels/metre3, which is the governments’ ‘safe’ level. Some experts however, argue that there is really no safe radon level and if any radon is found in a home it should be taken care of immediately.
Repairs to radon problems usually involve sealing up cracks in a home’s foundation or well-water openings, because radon tends to creep up into a home through the soil into the basement and lower levels. The Government of Canada Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations of Homes is a two-year survey of 18,000 homes that will be finished this year.
Should you suspect the presence of radon in your home or business, contact EnvironmentalServicesGroup.ca – The Greater Toronto Area’s (GTA) radon inspection professionals – at (416) 575-6111
Radon Inspections in the GTA: Mississuaga, Vaughan, Ajax, Barrie, Beaverton, Bowmanville, Bracebridge, Brantford, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Cobourg, Collingwood, Georgetown Guelph, Hamilton, Keswick, Kitchener, Lindsay, London , Markham, Milton, Mississauga, Muskoka, Newmarket, Niagara Falls, North York, Oakville, Orangeville, Oshawa, Owen Sound, Peterborough, Pickering, Port Carling, Port Hope, Richmond Hill, Severn Bridge, Sarnia , Simcoe, Southwest Ontario , St Catharines, Thornhill, Toronto, Vaughan, Waterdown, Waterloo, Whitby and Windsor Ontario.
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