Radon presents serious risk for Saskatchewan citizens

One in three homes in Saskatchewan has dangerous levels of radon, according to a Lung Association of Saskatchewan study.

That number is even higher in Regina, where about 50 per cent of homes are affected.

Radon is a gas that is undetectable by the senses. It is released from the ground when uranium in the soil breaks down.

According to the Saskatchewan Mining Association, Saskatchewan is a hotbed for uranium. The province accounts for 22 per cent of the world’s uranium production and all of Canada’s.

Although most of Saskatchewan’s uranium deposits are found in the Athabasca Basin in the northern part of the province, Yuanming Pan, a University of Saskatchewan geology professor, says uranium is present virtually everywhere with some soils having higher content than others.

He says oxidization and other favourable conditions in basins all over the province have led to Saskatchewan having a higher uranium content than other provinces.

When a radon test is purchased and put to use, it measures the becquerel level of the air in a home. Becquerels (Bq) are a unit of radioactivity. A single Bq refers to the decay of the nucleus of one radioactive material per second.

According to Health Canada, a home moves into dangerous levels of radon once it surpasses 200 Bq per cubic metre.

“That means for every cubic metre of air in a house, there are 200 radon molecules decaying away every second,” said Frank Kirkpatrick, certified radon professional and owner of Master Radon in Regina.

“(But) that is not as low as other countries. Most countries of the world, the standard is 100. When we fix a house, we try to get all houses below 100 Bq.”

Kirkpatrick was the first person in the province to get his radon mitigation certificate from the Canadian National Radon Proficiency Program. The program qualifies him to measure and remove the radon from a home.

“What we do is we use a fan and a piping system and the system is installed permanently to maintain vacuum in the area so that we can draw the radon away from going into the house and blow that air to the atmosphere,” said Kirkpatrick.

“Once the house is fixed, it theoretically should be good for as long as the fan is working. But at the same time, things change so you really need to recheck it in a couple years and make sure it is still good.”

If not taken care of, radon in a home can lead to serious health problems. Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer after cigarettes.