51吃瓜网

There may be an uninvited guest in your home. It doesn鈥檛 eat your snacks, hog the remote, or leave the toilet seat up鈥攂ut it might be slowly increasing your risk of lung cancer. Meet radon: a colourless, odourless, tasteless radioactive gas that may be living in your basement rent-free.

So鈥� what exactly is it?

is a naturally occurring radioactive gas released from the breakdown of uranium in soil and rock. You probably don鈥檛 think of your backyard as a radioactive wasteland, and to be fair, it mostly isn鈥檛. But radon is everywhere鈥攍urking underground, occasionally hitching a ride into your home through cracks in your foundation, floor drains, or around service pipes. Outdoors, radon disperses harmlessly into the air. Indoors, though? It鈥檚 more like steam trapped in a sealed bathroom鈥攊t lingers, builds up, and eventually becomes a problem.

Should I Be Worried?

In 2024, the dropped some less-than-cozy news: about 1 in 5 Canadians are living in homes with radon levels above the national safety guideline of 200 Bq/m鲁. That鈥檚 not 鈥渏ust a little over.鈥� That鈥檚 鈥測ou should definitely do something鈥� territory.

In major Canadian cities such as Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau, Calgary, and Edmonton, approximately one in six homes have radon levels at or above the current national guideline of 200 Bq/m鲁. Additionally, several smaller municipalities鈥攊ncluding Whitehorse, Regina, and Kingston鈥攃onsistently report elevated radon concentrations, with some areas averaging close to or exceeding this threshold. While the national average radon level across residential buildings is approximately 85 Bq/m鲁, this figure can be misleading; even a single home with high radon levels poses a significant health risk to its occupants.

How Radon Affects Your Health

When inhaled, radon decays into radioactive particles that become lodged in the lungs. These particles emit bursts of radiation that damage surrounding lung tissue at the cellular level. Over time, this repeated damage can lead to mutations in the cells鈥攕ignificantly increasing the risk of developing lung cancer.

Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. For individuals who smoke, the presence of high radon levels significantly amplifies their risk. While the lifetime risk of lung cancer for a lifelong smoker is approximately 1 in 10, this risk increases to 1 in 3 when combined with long-term exposure to elevated radon levels.

鈥淏ut My House is New!鈥�

Great! Unfortunately, radon does not care. Age, location, building materials鈥攏one of these offer guarantees. Two identical houses next door to each other can have radically different radon levels. It鈥檚 the real estate version of Russian roulette.

So, What Do I Do?

can be simple, inexpensive, and鈥攕urprisingly鈥攌ind of anticlimactic. You can buy a do-it-yourself kit online or at hardware stores for $30 to $60. Just follow the instructions, set it up in your lowest lived-in level (basement, ground floor, or wherever you binge-watch Netflix for more than 4 hours a day), and send it to a lab after three months.

If your test results exceed 200 Bq/m鲁, the recommends taking action by hiring a certified mitigation professional. These experts install a system called sub-soil depressurization, which sounds fancy but is basically a pipe and a fan that suck radon from under your house and spit it into the great outdoors. Think of it as an exorcism, but for noble gases.

While testing is relatively inexpensive, remediation is a more significant investment. Mitigation systems generally range from $2,000 to $4,000, depending on the home鈥檚 size and design. Though the price can feel steep, it鈥檚 a small cost compared to the potential health consequences of prolonged radon exposure.

Final Thoughts

There is no such thing as a 鈥渟afe鈥� level of radon鈥攋ust a less risky one. Even if your radon levels are below the guideline, reducing exposure lowers your long-term cancer risk. So, test your home. It鈥檚 the easiest preventative health move you鈥檒l ever make鈥攏o treadmill required.

蔼鈥孲辞辫丑颈别罢蝉别苍驳笔别濒濒补谤

Sophie Tseng Pellar recently graduated from 51吃瓜网 with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in the physiology program. She will be continuing her graduate studies in the surgical and interventional sciences program at McGill. Her research interests include exercise physiology, biomechanics and sports nutrition.

Part of the OSS mandate is to foster science communication and critical thinking in our students and the public. We hope you enjoy these pieces from our Student Contributors and welcome any feedback you may have!