November is Radon Action Month. But while the month is almost over, it’s not too late to test your home this winter. The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) is encouraging people to test their homes for radon gas during the cold months this year. And the Essex County Library is making kits available for testing.
Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. Exposure to high levels of radon in indoor air increases the risk of developing lung cancer. Exposure to radon and tobacco use together can significantly increase your risk of lung cancer.
Since radon levels tend to build up in the home when the doors and windows are closed, it’s best to test your home during the fall and winter months.
Radon is an invisible, colourless, odorless and tasteless radioactive gas that comes from the ground and is in every home in Canada. Radon comes from the breakdown of uranium in soil and rock.
Radon gas breaks down and forms radioactive elements that can be inhaled into the lungs. In the lungs, radon creates radioactive particles that release small bursts of energy which are absorbed by nearby lung tissue, damaging the lung cells. When these cells become damaged, they may result in cancer when they reproduce.
The air pressure is usually lower inside your home than it will be in the soil around the foundation. This difference in pressure draws air and gases like radon into your house.
Radon can get in wherever there is an opening where the house contacts the ground. There may be cracks in construction joints, in the foundation floor and walls, or in gaps around floor drains, service pipes, sumps, support posts, window casements, or cavities inside walls.
Fortunately, when radon is released from the ground into the outdoors, it becomes diluted and is not something to be concerned about. However, in enclosed spaces, like homes, it can accumulate to high levels. It can then become a health risk.
A 3-year research product called The Radon: Know Your Level Study was completed in Windsor and Essex County in 2018 by the WECHU. Each year of the study, approximately 1000 local homeowners tested their homes for radon using a kit they received from the WECHU. In total, 11% of homes had indoor radon levels above 200 Bq/m³. This level is considered unsafe by Health Canada.
Essex County had a significantly greater proportion of homes with levels above 200 Bq/m3 (18%) compared to the City of Windsor (6%).

The only way to know the radon level in your home is to test for it. But it is easy to test for, and it’s also easy to reduce radon to safe levels.
There are several ways to test a home for radon. You can:
1) Purchase an easy-to-use 91-day long-term test kit at a cost of approximately $50.
2) Borrow a digital short-term test device at any branch of the Essex County Library for free. A short-term test device can act as a screening tool to help determine if further long-term testing is needed.
3) Hire a certified C-NRPP radon professional to test your home.
If you opt to borrow a short-term digital testing kit from the Essex County Library, you can place a hold to reserve yours for the optimal 3-week testing period.
For more information visit Health Canada and the Windsor Essex County Health Unit.
If you’re interested in participating in future radon research, email radonsurveys-enquetessurleradon@hc-sc.gc.ca.
Top image by Pexels from Pixabay
Video: Government of Canada