Radon Facts

Some things we need to know about Radon:

Radon is radioactive, it is an invisible, colorless, odourless, and tasteless noble gas that is formed by the natural decay of Uranium/Radium in all of the soil throughout the world. It is one of the heaviest gases.

There are no safe radon levels since radon is a radioactive gas that causes lung cancer.

No areas of Canada are radon free.

According to a 2011 census,1 as of 2011 in Canada there were 11.9 million homes with 30,582,627 residents in those homes (single detached houses & other dwellings - not including apartments above 4 floors & movable dwellings) x an estimated 6.9% of homes in Canada that have elevated radon levels which are above the Health Canada guideline of 200 Bq/m3 = approximately 821,100 homes in Canada with elevated radon levels = potentially 2.11 million Canadians living in homes exposed to elevated radon levels.

Each year, 26,100 Canadians will be diagnosed with lung cancer, 20,500 of those diagnosed will not make it. Only 11-15% of people diagnosed with lung cancer will live past 5 years. Lung cancer takes the lives of more Canadians than breast (5,000 lives), prostate (4,000 lives) and colorectal cancers (9,300 lives) combined, yet it is one of the most underfunded. A conservative estimate of 16% of the lung cancer cases are directly attributed to radon (over 3200 deaths in Canada annually).2 It is estimated that there are over 189,000 radon-caused deaths world-wide/year (518 deaths/day).

The Government of Canada is keenly aware of the important link between the environment and the health of Canadians. Through initiatives such as the Clean Air Agenda,3 the government is developing and implementing an effective radon program. This program is designed to make tangible improvements in the health of Canadians by reducing the incidences of lung cancer.

Health Canada actively encourages Canadians to test their houses for radon, and to take steps to reduce the radon levels if they are above the Canadian guideline of 200 Bq/m³.