Radon is a radioactive gas. A byproduct is given off during the 4.7 billion-year decay process of Uranium. Uranium is a radioactive heavy metal found quite abundantly all over the earth. In areas with high reserves uranium is mined and mainly used for nuclear reactors as a power source. Uranium is also used as the main ingredient for nuclear weapons. During its naturally occurring decomposition uranium reaches a point where it releases Radon Gas which then slowly rises to the surface.
Under normal circumstances, the Radon Gas that makes its way to the surface is quickly and easily driven away by the wind. The gas never has the chance to accumulate or pose any real danger. The problem for us is that we live and work in weather-protected enclosed spaces. Many if not most of us spend the vast majority of our time indoors.
To better understand here's an example. Imagine you are standing outside and you strike a match. From that match is released the smell of sulfur and a greyish/black smoke as a byproduct of the burning flame. Since you are standing outside in the open air the wind quickly and easily scatters it. What you could see and smell is quickly dispersed and very soon gone.
Now imagine this, you strike that same match and place it under an upside-down cup on a table. All of the smoke would now be contained inside that cup. Even if the wind blew twice as hard as before as long as the cup stayed still, it would not be able to scatter the smoke away.
Our homes, schools, and places of employment are these cups. Radon Gas is like the smoke that rises from beneath the surface and can seep in through gaps and cracks in our foundations and basements. Slowly building up and over time reaching levels that are very dangerous to us as humans. Deadly even. The worst part is we do not have any senses that can detect it. The only way to know if Radon Gas is there is to test for it. Unlike match smoke Radon Gas has no color, no odor, no taste, it is completely invisible. It has been nicknamed the Silent Killer for a reason. We can be surrounded and never know while it slowly takes our life.
Radon breathed in smaller amounts is not harmful to us. But when breathed in larger amounts and over a long enough period of time Radon can and will cause lung cancer. Radon is the #1 cause of lung cancer AFTER smoking. Every year this odorless gas claims more lives than it should. Smokers who are also breathing in Radon are taking double damage to their lungs.
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, an estimate of 29,800 Canadians were to be diagnosed with new cases of lung cancer in 2020. Radon Gas is not the only problem but it is part of the problem. We should be doing all we can to make sure our families are safe, and not just sitting comfortably in our own spaces breathing toxic gas.
Canada still has a ways to go with regulating how we handle Radon through detecting and mitigating it. On their end, Canada Health has started a Take Action on Radon initiative to better inform and protect the citizens as well as prevent disasters from happening to families.
Every building that has people is advised to test for Radon. There have been too many cases where one home that did not have dangerously high levels of Radon was a next-door neighbor to one that did. We ask that everyone check their homes, schools, and workplaces. One of these areas may be safe. The others may not.
A study taken of Ontario between 2009 and 2013 found that 2 out of the 3 highest areas of concentrated Radon were found in Southwest Ontario (Windsor-Essex County and Chatham Kent). This entire area is considered a "hot zone" for Radon activity and needs to be monitored.
At RadonFX we believe that the safety of each person is of the highest importance. And we have dedicated ourselves to being part of the effort to make everyone aware of the dangers of Radon. Some disastrous things are unavoidable, some are due to our choices, and some slip in under our radar. Radon Gas is like this, it can slip right in.
With so many things in life that are uncertain at least this we can take control of. Please don't wait until the last day to remember there was something you could have done on the first day that would have made everything alright.
Town to town, street to street, even neighbor to neighbor can have dramatically different levels
RadonFX services the following counties for In-home testing: Brant, Bruce, Dufferin, Elgin, Essex, Grey, Haldimand, Huron, Kent, Lambton, Lincoln, Middlesex, Norfolk, Oxford, Peel, Simcoe, Welland, Wellington, and Wentworth.
