(Montreal) Nearly one house in five has too high a concentration of radon in the air, reminds the Lung Association of Quebec (APQ) on the occasion of its annual campaign “Cities and municipalities against radon”.
Posted at 2:43 p.m.
Indeed, 17% of the houses tested exceed the Canadian standard, which is 200 Becquerels per cubic meter. This is why the APQ encourages the population to have the rooms tested where they spend more than four hours a day.
This radioactive gas resulting from the decomposition of uranium is naturally present in the environment. It is not very dangerous outside, where it is quickly diluted in the atmosphere, but it can also accumulate inside certain buildings.
“Radon is the first cause of lung cancer in non-smokers”, in addition to increasing the risk in smokers, argues the director general of the APQ, Dominique Massie. The provincial Department of Housing and Housing estimates that this product is associated with over 1,000 deaths per year.
“We will not tell people that tomorrow morning they will have cancer, it is in the long term, nuance Mme Massy. Between 200 and 600 Becquerels per cubic meter, people are said to correct in less than two years, and with more than 600, they are said to correct in less than a year. »
Prevention rather than cure
There is no way to know which home is more at risk, as can happen in all regions of Quebec, in new homes as in older ones. Radon is invisible and has no odor or taste.
We know, however, that since it is a heavy gas, it tends to accumulate in lower rooms. With the advent of telecommuting, “people have often done their office in their basement” and now spend more time there, notes M.me Massy.
You can get a test for about $45 on the APQ website, on the CAA Québec Habitation website or in some hardware stores.
The process is “really not complicated”, explains Mr.me Massy. Simply lay the test in a room for 3-12 months and then send it to a lab.
If radon levels are too high, homeowners can simply “increase ventilation, seal all cracks, openings in walls, foundation floors, around pipes, drains, and always ensure that there is water in the basement drain”.
If these measures are not enough, it is sometimes necessary to install an active soil depressurization system, which evacuates the radon outside the house. “You have to have a contractor certified” by the National Radon Competency Program in Canada, she says.
According to her, there are also “more and more municipalities which, like the city of Beloeil, have put in place rules so that contractors, when they build a new house, put membranes, put what is necessary to provide adequate ventilation.