Radon in Toronto 2.7% of 73 homes, which pulls the Ontario average down
The City of Toronto health unit was 2.7% of 73 homes above 200 Bq/m³, and none of that sample was above 600. Ontario’s population-weighted estimate was 4.6% partly because Toronto, Peel (0% on 89 homes) and York (0% on 95) weigh so much. Kingston was 11.1%. Leeds, Grenville and Lanark was 19.4% of 108 homes.
A third-floor condo does not see soil gas the way a Don Mills basement does. Test the lowest occupied room of the unit you actually live in. The City of Toronto percentage is not that room.
What the percentage does not measure
The survey describes homes recruited in a health region, not your house. The slab, the footing drain, the cracks and how many hours the windows stay shut change the number from one address to the next. The reading that matters is the lowest lived-in room, during the heating season.
If the report is over 200
In that survey, Health Canada asked participants to act within two years between 200 and 600 Bq/m³, and within one year above 600. Next steps: radon above 200. Ontario Kingston
The 4-day test is a first reading. The 91-day test is the length Health Canada uses to judge a heating season. Both are $59 before tax. Shipping, the prepaid return and the lab are included. Tax is extra. The PDF report is emailed within 2 business days after the lab receives the detector.
Above 200 Bq/m³, the fix is a fan that pulls soil gas from under the slab and exhausts it above the roof. Gaz Radon is C-NRPP certified for testing and for mitigation, and ships kits across Canada. Start from the Canada test page.
Source: Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes, long-term tests in the 2009–2011 heating seasons, report published in 2012. A health-region percentage is not a reading for one address.
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