November is Radon Action Month, and a Balmoral resident aims to raise awareness about the potential dangers you might find right in your home.
Radon is a colourless, odourless radioactive gas found naturally in the environment. It comes from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water.
“Radon gas escapes from the ground into the air outside. When radon mixes with the air outside, it’s not a problem: the air outside dilutes the concentration of radon in the atmosphere,” explained Adam Anderson, government relations officer and health program analyst for the Manitoba Lung Association.
“But when radon seeps into a closed-in space like a house, it can be harmful. The radon gas can become trapped inside.”
Since radon is a gas, it can move through the soil to enter the air we breathe. Radon can enter a home through cracks or gaps in the foundation and walls. In general, radon levels are highest in the basement.
Over time, long-term radon exposure in a home or building may increase the risk of developing lung cancer. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer behind smoking — and for non-smokers, it’s the No. 1 leading cause of lung cancer.
According to the Cross-Canada Survey on Radon Concentration in Homes’ final report, Health Canada estimated that about seven percent of Canadians and about 19 percent of Manitobans are living in homes above the radon guideline of 200 becquerels per cubic metre. Since radon levels can vary depending on the season — or even the day — this guideline reflects the average level over a year of monitoring.
“In Manitoba, like other areas of Canada and the rest of the world, the natural radioactivity of the soil varies from region to region. Radon levels may also vary within one region,” Anderson said.
“Historically, Manitoba has had higher radon values in buildings than national averages.”
Anderson said the first step in reducing your risk of radon exposure is to test.
“You don’t know if you are at risk until you test, and you want to test for a minimum of 90 days to get an accurate long-term average level of exposure. People can order a 90-day test kit from the Manitoba Lung Association at mb.lung.ca. They are easy to use and ship directly to your home from the lab and include return postage back,” he said.
“The second step, if you find levels are above the 200 becquerels, you will want to contact a C-NRPP (Canadian National Radon Proficiency Program) professional to have your home mitigated.”
These concerns about radon hit close to home for J’aime Killbery of Balmoral. Her husband Wes died of lung cancer in 2023, six months after his diagnosis.
“He was, perfectly healthy, never smoked, never did pot. So how does a person get lung cancer at 40 years old?” she asked.
“I didn’t know anything about radon gas until I was in the hospital and starting to learn about it after he was diagnosed. We obviously don’t know whether or not radon gas was the reason why he got lung cancer, but I wanted to test our house.”
Killbery said they aren’t sure if her husband had perhaps been exposed to radon in the home he grew up in or the home they previously lived in.
“One thing I knew that I could do was test the house that we’re currently in,” she said. “So we started to speak with the Canadian Shield for radon testing so I could get more information and understand it better. And then we did test the house and our levels were high.”
When it came to testing for radon, Killbery opted to buy a monitor rather than a test kit.
“I think a monitor is better than a tester,” she said. “Buying a monitor will tell you every single day what your radon levels are, and the only way to get a proper reading of it is to monitor for a long time. The dead of winter is always going to be higher.”
Knowing that radon levels are higher in basements, her son would only sleep upstairs until the house was mitigated.
“I wanted it done right away just for our peace of mind because of what we had gone through,” Killbery added.
Dr. Shantanu Banerji, who served as Wes’s oncologist, thanked Killbery for raising awareness of lung cancer.
“We are seeing an increase in lung cancer in non-smokers, but that is not something that has been quantified very well because our health system cannot automatically collect smoking information on everyone,” Banerji said.
“To add to my last point, we think cancer in non-smokers is caused by environmental factors. Radon is one of these environmental factors. Another big factor is pollution.”
Dr. Ka Yan Xu, who works in public health and preventative medicine, shared similar information.
“The only health risk we know of from radon exposure is an increased risk of lung cancer, and radon is the leading cause of lung cancers in people who do not smoke,” Xu said.
“In general, exposure has to be over a long period of time for the risk of lung cancer to be increased. The risk of lung cancer is especially increased for people who smoke and are exposed to radon.”
Like Anderson, Xu noted that the best way to reduce your risk of radon exposure is to find out how much radon is in your home through testing.
“If the results show that there are high levels of radon in your home, there are ways to bring those levels down. A very effective method called sub-slab depressurization is commonly used,” Xu said.
“This method vents the radon from underneath your basement slab or foundation through a pipe to the outside of your home. The pipe sits just below the concrete slab in your basement and has a fan that runs continuously, providing the radon a ‘path of least resistance’ to the outside before it can accumulate in your home.”
The provincial government’s Manitoba Radon Programs and Services webpage shares other suggestions to reduce radon exposure, such as caulking cracks and holes in basement floors and walls, as well as sealing around pipes and drains. Homeowners can also consider installing specially designed traps in floor drains to help prevent radon from entering through the basement.
Another idea is to increase ventilation or air turnover in the home by opening windows when weather allows or increasing mechanical ventilation through a heat recovery ventilator.
“There are many resources available to the public to learn more about radon testing and mitigation,” Xu added.
“There is financial assistance available to those who have been diagnosed with lung cancer and those who are from low-income households.”
Based on her family’s experience, Killbery encourages everyone to check the radon levels in their homes.
“It’s such a simple thing for peace of mind,” she said. “Lung Cancer Awareness Month is November and Radon Awareness Month is November, so it works hand in hand. Wes was also diagnosed in November, and I lost him six months to the day of diagnosis. It’s so important to get the information out there to people.”
The Manitoba Lung Association recently launched its annual Christmas Seals campaign. With your support, the organization can continue providing radon information and awareness campaigns and conducting research on many other lung health issues and diseases. For more information on the campaign, visit www.mb.lung.ca/christmas_seals.
For more information on radon or to help the Manitoba Lung Association support Manitobans across the province deal with lung disease and avoid lung health risks, visit mb.lung.ca.
Additional information, including details about Manitoba radon programs and services, is available through the Province of Manitoba at www.gov.mb.ca/health/publichealth/environmentalhealth/radon.
