Radon Awareness Ideas

Let's face it, we know radon is a health issue, and our friends, neighbours and fellow Canadians need to know this too.  

Here are some ideas CARST has developed to help our members get information out on radon.

You can order Radon Awareness materials here.

Municipal Outreach:

Child Care Centers:

CAREX (CARcinogen EXposure Canada) and CPCHE (Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health & Environment) are developing a paper on radon and child care centres, this may be a good time to contact your local child care facility and encourage them to test for radon.  

The province of Quebec has also sent a letter (December 2015) to all child care centres encouraging them to test.

The BC Interior health has required all Child Care centres test (May 2017).

Here are some C-NRPP Resources to help you, including:

• Child Care Centre Radon Brochure (Easy to understand Pamphlet on Testing Child Care Centers)
  
• Child Care Postcard (Postcards for parents)
• Poster Child Care (Posters to put up around the center)

Workplace Information:

Consider approaching local workplaces to do a “Lunch and Learn” or “Breakfast Break” session on radon for their employees

As part of radon outreach, Scout Environmental is co-ordinating The Radon Workplace Challenge encouraging workplaces to test for radon and to have their employees test for radon.   Click here for more information

Here are some C-NRPP Resources to help you, including:

• CNRPP Workplace Guideline                              
• CNRPP InfoSummary 2017                               
• 1 Page Placement information sheet                  

Doctor’s Offices

• Perhaps you can reach out to your own doctor or the doctors in your neighbourhood.  Take in with copies of “Radon is it in your Home” pamphlets; and the Take Action on Radon poster, so they can make these available in their offices, and you can provide the staff with information on the MacHealth course that Health Canada has developed by giving them a radon.machealth.ca - Radon Education Program card.
• You can order these from radon@hc-sc.gc.ca  or info@carst.ca (for a package of it all)

Schools

• CARST is working with various groups to make recommendations to provincial health officials on making a policy to test all the schools in the province.
• CAREX has a study on and additional resources on school testing.
• Please see the resources for Child Care Centres, above.  These can also be used for schools.

New Home Warranty Programs

• CARST is working to protect new homeowners from high radon levels.  The national building code includes radon prevention measures.  Check and see if the Home Warranty Program in your area will provide coverage for radon mitigation.
• Find information on TARION Home Warranty which covers all new Ontario homes.

Public Forums:

There is something that really engages homeowners when they attend a presentation on radon.  We have found that this is effective when you have multiple groups working together, an opportunity for homeowners to ask questions and take home a radon test, and when you include in your presentation information on radon mitigation and show them how it is a simple method of reducing radon levels that works efficiently, quietly and consistently.

CARST has been working in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and BC on these public forums.   We will post dates on our website as we learn about events happening.   We are happy to work in all provinces.

Let us know if you want support to have this happen in your area and we can try and connect you with the right groups to work with.