If the 1st 100 went in one day, why order only 100 more? The demand is there.

With all this radon attention, has anyone put out a radon area map?

Yes, I would like to know if every area is affected or just certain ones, or does anyone even know?

2007 provincial map which shows PG’s average as being low.

radonaware.ca/radon-resources/maps#british-columbia-radon-maps

Note it is the main floor average concentration. Right there we have the first problem. House designs are not all the same.

There are basically three versions – full depth basement; half depth basement; slab on grade. For a long time the main floor in PG houses was half a floor up with split level entrance. Then came the “Richmond house” with slab on grade and the main floor a full floor up. Now we are back to a lot of full burry basements.

Everything else being equal (amount of radon in the area) when on has the three house styles as neighbouring buildings, the highest readings should start from full burry to half burry to slab on grade with main floor upstairs as the lowest reading.

The City does not seem to have any radon maps on their web site, even though there are some indications of where the high levels are. I do not know why their site does not link to this study.

radonaware.ca/database/files/library/Radon_Home_Testing_Results_2014___Prince_George.pdf

This is a current issue. Why is the City not on top of this?

Talktober is over. Time to have some Talkradon sessions in the areas thought to be most affected and hand out test kits for free if not enough have been handed out during the survey done previously.

The City should be talking to the two MLAs and asking them for free test kits.

I want a free test kit. I pay my taxes on this property

and the only ones to gain from all this is the people selling the test kits…

Funny how people are always looking for a handout!
Reality is that at $16 the kits are already being subsidized by the TAX PAYER!
Or are some of you confused about where the money for FREE kits would come from?
There is no magic money tree….it always comes down to the TAX PAYER so suck it up and pay the $16. of course I am assuming that YOUR health and the health of YOUR family is worth at least that much!

“Funny how people are always looking for a handout!”

I prefer to call it strange and even reprehensible when government does not recognize its responsibility and allows an inequity to exist. One of these days a lawyer is going to take a look at this and think of it as a class action suit in the making.

Those of us who have lived in a house before we were warned of radon and told of what type of house we should be avoiding to build or buy and where we should be avoiding to buy. We do not have the capacity on our own to do such research. The research has been done by government. We have known about this since the 1980s at least. Inadequate attention has been given to this issue. In fact, the City sent out educational info in utility bills over a decade ago. Now there is a resurgence. Why was nothing more done in the previous go-around?

For instance, when subdivisions are designed and buildings are located on public or private properties, soil explorations are done to assess the stability of soils, slopes, etc. There are none done for the presence of dangerous levels of radon. That should have been done decades ago.

The City and the Province has a responsibility to set regulations to cause proper explorations to be done to protect the public. This is simply another such case. CBD-247. Control of Radon in Houses was originally published February 1988, over 27 years ago.

It can be read here: web.mit.edu/parmstr/Public/NRCan/CanBldgDigests/cbd247_e.html

BTW, here are the result of the 2014 study – they were presented on 250NEWS earlier.

V2M = bowl has average of 291 with 56% of sites over 200 limit

V2N = College Heigths + rural to south has an average of 139 with 21% of sites reporting over the 200 limit

V2K = Hart + rural to north has average of 156 with 18% of sites over 200 limit

V2L = Downtown has average 126 with 14% of sites over 200 limit.

@gopg2015

Yes, this is a current issue and yes the city is on top of it. Of course they could have ordered more test kits and of course they could have further reduced the price. But lets not ignore what they have done and are continuing to do.

You suggest they should hand out the kits to those in high concentration areas for free. Please keep in mind that the mitigation typically costs between $1200-1800. The cost of the kit is minimal in the overall picture.

If we follow your view on what the city should do to prevent/lessen health issues, the city would also need to provide free Nicotiene Replacement Therapy to all those who smoke inside their home.

I think the city is doing a great job of increasing awareness and adding an incentive. Perhaps those who can afford the $30 test kit should pay full price thorugh a typical retailer.

Gopg2015, I take issue with the notion that government should always be there to protect us from every possible known, perceived, imagined, and even dreamed of threat to our well being!
There has been talk and awareness of Radon for at least 30 years. In fact I tested my own home at least 20 years ago. I know several people that have tested, and remediated on their own without looking for a handout!
Since then there have been some significant changes to the building codes across the country to help prevent the migration of Radon gas into sub terrainian living spaces. At the same time several relatively inexpensive mitigation techniques have been developed to deal with an already existing Radon gas issue.
The reality around Prince George is that although it seems that certain areas of the V2M postal code are more prone to Radon Gas issues, no area of the city that sits on pervious soils such as gravel, and to a lesser extent sand is immune to Radon Gas leaching into basements. The only areas that are truly safe are the ones that sit mainly on clay type soils. This being the case the City would have had to abandon virtually all of the bowl area, and the Nechako River bench lands to avoid building homes in areas susceptible to Radon Gas.
Further to my previous comment about handouts, if and this is a big if certain levels of government paid to test, and then remediate the homes in the effected areas, do you think that when people ultimately decided to sell those properties they would be willing to share any profits made with that level of Government?
I think NOT!

Did you read anywhere that I said the City should pay? DID you not read what I wrote? They should be talking to the MLAs. This is a health issue. This is not different than immunization against flue or any other disease.

Yes, this is also an issue of prevention. It does not cost any more to build houses that mitigate the effects of radon gas in a subdivision of houses. It does, however, take someone to require developers to submit geological testing with their subdivision proposals to indicate the types of risks involved in building in a new subdivision.

You probably do not even realize the standard requirements for a subdivision approval process includes a soils engineering report for the types of foundations buildings require. What I am saying it should require a radon report.

Things change. We learn new things. One needs to be aware of them and one needs to change as a result.

There is more to this than the type of awareness raising done right now. We need some better bureaucrats who can go beyond their everyday job of doing the same thing their forefathers did before them. We need some people who can deal with cross jurisdictional situations.

…. the City would have had to abandon virtually all of the bowl area, and the Nechako River bench lands to avoid building homes in areas susceptible to Radon Gas.
Wrong conclusion. Buildings can be built to avoid the leakage of radon gas into buildings. What part of the building code measures do you not understand?

You talk about adding to the value of the house. You forget that buildings without protection will eventually lose value once the extent of the reaction by purchasers can be felt. That comes first. We have not even had any discussion in open forum of what, if anything, can be done. One thing is for sure, there are people who have known about this in positions of authority who could have done something about it. The average homeowner is oblivious to such info. In fact, the average homeowner does not have the expertise to understand this entire issue let alone understand where primary responsibility lies.

gopg2015, Yes, I do know what it takes to get a subdivision through the approval process. In fact I have steered more than a few through the process in different areas of the province.
As you are aware, Radon gas really becomes an issue only when it is in confined spaces. In fact it would be next to impossible to provide even an accurate estimate of what future concentrations might be like in a subdivision because there are no confined spaces until the homes are built, and literally every lot will be different. That is why the national and provincial building codes have developed standards that are location and soil agnostic. In other words regardless of where you build, you have to provide adequate measures to mitigate migration of Radon Gas into the home. Those Building code provisions are at least 10 years old, so houses are not being built today that are at risk of Radon migration.

Let me try to put the whole radon issue into some perspective as to risk.

The majority of radon-related cancer deaths occur among smokers. However, it is estimated that more than 10 percent of radon-related cancer deaths occur among nonsmokers.

The National Cancer Institute of the USA states that the majority of radon-related cancer deaths occur among smokers. There are about 160,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the USA. Scientists estimate that each year 15,000 to 22,000 lung cancer deaths in the USA are related to radon. That would then be about 9% to 14% of all lung cancer deaths. However, it is estimated that only about 10 percent of radon-related cancer deaths occur among non-smokers.

The population of Canada is about 10.9% of the population of the USA. Assuming the levels of radon found in the USA and Canada are not that different, and knowing that the lifestyles of the two countries are similar, the number of deaths in Canada related to radon would be in the range of 1,630 to 2,390.

The population of the City of PG is around 75,000 which is about 0.22% of the population of Canada.

That then means that there will be between 3.6 to 5.3 deaths on average per year caused by radon. If you are a non-smoker, that is reduced to 10% of those numbers to between 0.36 to 0.53. That results in not more than one death every two years attributable to radon if you are a non-smoker living in PG.

Further, if all residences were altered so that the radiation level would be the brought down to the recommended level, the non-smoker mortality might be reduced by an estimated 25%.

The best advice, based on the above, if you are a smoker and do not want to die of lung cancer, quit smoking. If you are still afraid of dying of lung cancer as a result of radon, get out of cave life and move to a floor which is above grade. Also, be kind to your kids and move them out of the basement sleeping quarters. Finally, do not rent a basement suite apartment, especially if you are a smoker.

Reference – cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/radon/radon-fact-sheet

Guelph, Ontario – As part of the City’s Radon Gas Mitigation Program, free long-term radon gas testing is being offered for all new low-rise residential homes…… The City will pay for all radon gas testing in new homes for the first two testing cycles (winter 2015/2016 and winter 2016/2017).

guelph.ca/living/house-and-home/buildingpermits/radon

In a related matter, Free Radon Test Kit For Missouri Residents > health.mo.gov/living/environment/radon/testkit.php