Residential Indoor Radon Testing

Radon is a known carcinogen, and is estimated to cause up to 10% of all lung cancers in Canada. It is a radioactive gas that is produced by the decay of uranium. Radon is naturally occurring, and emanates from soil and rocks. It percolates up through soil into buildings, and if it is not evacuated there can be much higher exposure levels indoors than outdoors. Fortunately, high radon levels can be easily tested for, allowing for mitigation. Health Canada’s guideline for the acceptable level of indoor radon in a normal living area has recently been changed from 800 Bq/m3 to 200 Bq/m3.

In order to evaluate the relative risk of radon exposure among residents of communities throughout the country, Health Canada has prepared a preliminary radon map of Canada. This provides a spatial map of historical indoor radon levels across Canada, using health regions as the basic geographic unit.