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Health Unit to expand radon testing

The Thunder Bay District Health Unit will be expanding radon testing to two municipalities in the region next year.
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Radon testing kit

THUNDER BAY - The Thunder Bay District Health Unit will expand radon testing in the region starting next year.

Two municipalities in the district will be chosen for testing and receive radon testing kits to allow the health unit to determine radon levels in outlying areas throughout the district.

In 2014, the Health Unit conducted a radon prevalence study in the city of Thunder Bay. The study found that more than 16 per cent of homes in the city have radon levels higher than provincial guidelines.

“We had always intended that it would provide good information for the city, but we did want to look at how we might assess radon levels outside of the city, including municipalities surrounding Thunder Bay but also the district communities,” said Dr. Janet DeMille, medical officer of health with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit.

Radon is a naturally occurring gas found in soil that is a breakdown product of uranium. Chronic exposure to radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in Canada.

Health Canada recommends that every home be tested for radon levels and testing kits are available for purchase.

“We could have done all the municipalities in the district, but that is quite a bit and logistically it’s quite complicated to do that, so we decided that for the coming one to two years that we will do this over, to pick two municipalities and do the study there and then go beyond that as indicated by the results,” DeMille explained.

The study will cost $10,000, which was earmarked in the last Health Unit budget. DeMille said the two municipalities to receive testing have still not been determined.

“We have considered what criteria we will use to determine what those communities would be though, which looks at the number of homes, the density of homes, whether we have partners in those areas, like the municipalities themselves that might help with the logistics of the study,” she said.

Logistics and planning for the study will be undertaken this year, with the actual study to take place a year from now.



Doug Diaczuk

About the Author: Doug Diaczuk

Doug Diaczuk is a reporter and award-winning author from Thunder Bay. He has a master’s degree in English from Lakehead University
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