Evidence of meeting #68 for Health in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was home.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
Okay, good.
Do new homeowners have obligations to build with building codes across Canada to reduce the radon that gets into the house after the house is built?
4:30 p.m.
Section Head, Radon Education and Awareness, Radiation Protection Bureau, Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
The way the building code works is that at a national level it's a model code. If it's adopted at the provincial level then it's enforceable. The large majority of the provinces and territories have adopted the codes related to radon. Several of them are now taking them and making them more stringent as they have more data available with regard to the risk of radon in their provinces and municipalities.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
Thank you. I bought four new houses since I got married. The last one was a few years ago. I don't know what they do. They pour a concrete frame. They put bricks up. What do they do to make the house safer from radon, to reduce the radon in the house? Physically, what do they do, or is it just a matter of ventilation?
4:30 p.m.
Section Head, Radon Education and Awareness, Radiation Protection Bureau, Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
There are two codes now. One is a sealing application, so it's a vapour barrier, basically, a very thick piece of plastic that goes under the concrete slab, and there's also a rough-in for a radon mitigation system. One of the most significant parts of installing a radon reduction system is having to core through that slab. If you have that four-inch PVC pipe there, capped, and it's available, it's much easier to install a radon reduction system.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
4:35 p.m.
Section Head, Radon Education and Awareness, Radiation Protection Bureau, Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
It should be labelled.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
It should be labelled. Okay, I'll take a look. Thank you. I also want to get my home checked.
I bought this kit for $35 at Home Depot, and then when I went to use it there were a bunch of reasons I couldn't use it, like the temperature wasn't right in the room. There has to be a certain temperature and you have to leave it somewhere for three months. I found it awkward, and then I made a mental note to bring in a company. I just checked online here. It's $300 to have your house tested—which I'll probably do—but then they want $400 to test the granite counters.
Can you talk about the risks from granite counters, please? In Oakville, every house has a granite counter; otherwise, no one's going to buy it.
4:35 p.m.
Section Head, Radon Education and Awareness, Radiation Protection Bureau, Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
Right. This was a concern that was raised in 2008, so in response Health Canada did a study. We looked at 35 different commonly used granites in Canada. Essentially, the result was that the risk is not from your granite countertops. Enjoy them. Keep them. The risk is in the ground under your home. The best thing you can do is to test your home for radon.
4:35 p.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
4:35 p.m.
Section Head, Radon Education and Awareness, Radiation Protection Bureau, Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
My pleasure.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
You said there are two mitigation standards. There are building codes, etc., that they're working on. They're starting to realize them, but there's no line. One of my colleagues on the opposite side was talking about it. Is there a line when you buy a house that has to be there and your lawyer checks for it to make sure?
They used to have urea formaldehyde foam and it would say, “No, this house was never insulated with that foam.” Here, it would maybe be, “Yes, this house had a radon test and here's the result.” There's nothing like that out there, is there?
4:35 p.m.
Section Head, Radon Education and Awareness, Radiation Protection Bureau, Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
It's in very few communities. They have it in some communities. Those real estate documents differ quite a bit across the country.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
Is there any measurement of what percentage of lung cancers, or...? What is the contributory factor of radon to lung cancer nationally?
4:35 p.m.
Section Head, Radon Education and Awareness, Radiation Protection Bureau, Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
I'm not sure I completely understand the question.
It's been estimated that 16% of lung cancers are related to radon exposure, but....
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
That's helpful. Thank you very much.
Is there any evidence that there are more lung cancers in those communities you mentioned earlier, where there are more houses with an amount of radon that's up to 10% or 20% above normal, where it should not be?
4:35 p.m.
Section Head, Radon Education and Awareness, Radiation Protection Bureau, Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
I don't know that I can speak to that in detail. There have been some, but there are also communities where that hasn't been demonstrated. Probably the best answer is that it's not consistent.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
4:35 p.m.
Section Head, Radon Education and Awareness, Radiation Protection Bureau, Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
There is.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
Is it a matter of ventilation in the homes or something, or maybe some mitigation the homeowners have done, or maybe some populations aren't as susceptible to it as much as others are? Is there any hint of that?
4:35 p.m.
Section Head, Radon Education and Awareness, Radiation Protection Bureau, Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
Similar to the question of asking a lifelong smoker why they didn't develop lung cancer, it's very hard to explain exactly why some are impacted more than others.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
Right.
Perhaps you could take a minute and tell us, so that it's in the record here, the steps that homeowners who are concerned about this should take.
4:35 p.m.
Section Head, Radon Education and Awareness, Radiation Protection Bureau, Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
Test their home. They have two options. They can buy a do-it-yourself test kit or they can hire a certified professional. If the levels are high, take action to reduce, because it's easy. The cost is similar to other home maintenance costs. It's similar to a new air conditioner or a new furnace, and it will reduce your radon by up to 80% to 90%.
4:35 p.m.
Section Head, Radon Education and Awareness, Radiation Protection Bureau, Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
That's it. They can call Health Canada if they have any questions, because we're more than willing to help.