Radon is a colourless, odourless gas that is found in soil, rocks and water. Radon has been identified as the second leading cause of lung cancer in Canada. Health Canada estimates as many as 16 percent of lung cancer deaths can be attributed to radon exposure. Most of the lung cancer risk posed by radon happens in homes.
Many homeowners want to know what the radon level is in their home. In January 2014, the BC Lung Association launched Canada’s largest single community radon testing project in Prince George, BC. This project serves to answer the radon level question for homeowners and tenants, and provide average radon level results for all testing tracked by Postal Code Area (PCA).
The Project offered free radon test kits to 2,000 Prince George homeowners and tenants to test indoor radon levels in their homes. A total of 1,436 test kits, or 71.5 percent of test kits distributed, were returned from across the City.
Each participant in the Project has received the radon test results for their home. This report provides the radon test results for the community as a whole and by PCA. The test results show that 29 percent of Prince George homes have radon levels above the Health Canada action level of 200 Bq/m3. Above this level Health Canada recommends that residents take action to reduce the radon
levels in their home. The test results also show that there are variable radon levels across Prince George based on the test results over the four PCAs. One PCA reports that 56 percent of homes in that area had radon levels above 200 Bq/m3.
It must be noted that PCAs have been used to track the number of tests completed by geographic location within Prince George and should not be viewed as an indicator of whether or not any home may have radon levels above or below 200 Bq/m3. The only way to know if your home has elevated levels of radon is to test.
To read more visit: http://www.radonaware.ca/database/files/library/Radon_Home_Testing_Results_2014___Prince_George.pdf