ARCHIVED - Radon - Simple Steps for Reducing Your Exposure to Radon

Transcript - Radon - Simple Steps for Reducing Your Exposure to Radon

(Animation begins with Hazardcheck symbol.)

Voiceover: "Radon is a radioactive gas that's a part of our environment."
(Hazardcheck symbol fades as radon vapours come up from the ground.)

Voiceover: "But too much exposure to it can cause lung cancer."
(The word "Radon" appears within the vapours.)

Voiceover: "As naturally-occurring uranium in the soil breaks down, it releases radon gas. Outdoors, radon dissipates harmlessly."
(Radon vapours come up from the ground, dissipating in the air.)

Voiceover: "But it can also collect in low, enclosed places in the ground -- like your basement -- where it seeps through undetected."
(Zoom in on the house. It fades to a silhouette as radon vapours fill the basement.)

Voiceover: "Almost every home in Canada has some radon, but concentrations vary from one house to another -- even if they are next door to each other."
(Cut back to external view of house. Other homes appear beside it.)

Voiceover: "You can't see, smell or taste radon."
(Cut to eyes looking around; then to nose twitching; and finally to a woman with her mouth open.)

Voiceover: "You and your family can be exposed to radon without knowing it. Inhaled over a long period of time, radon is the second most common cause of lung cancer after smoking,"
(Transition to a set of pink lungs filling with radon gas.)

Voiceover: "If you are a smoker, and are exposed to high levels of radon, your risk of lung cancer is much higher."
(The lungs continue to fill with vapours and radioactive symbols appear to represent cell damage.)

Voiceover: "However, you can protect yourself and your family from radon by measuring the radon level in your home, and taking action to reduce it if necessary."
(Cut to reveal family. They look concerned and then relieved.)

Voiceover: "Radon detectors can measure the level in your home."
(Cut to hand placing Radon detector on a shelf. Pan back to show detector on shelf.)

Voiceover: "Buy a do-it-yourself kit at a hardware store -- or hire a measurement professional -- and do a long-term test for a minimum of three months."
(Transition to Radon Testing Kit. The word long-term appears and then fades. The number 1 appears and then counts up to 3.)

Voiceover: "There are ways to reduce your home's radon level:

• You can seal the entry points where radon is getting into the home, such as cracks and sump holes, and increase ventilation.
• The most common and effective method is active sub-slab depressurization, typically performed by a certified radon mitigator."

(Transition to close-up of crack being filled. Cut to demonstration of active sub-slab depressurization.)

Voiceover: "Once you have taken steps to reduce the radon level in your home all you have to do is re-test to ensure it worked and the level in your home is below the Canadian Guideline of 200 becquerels per cubic metre."
(Demonstration fades and screen fills with the safe numeric measure: > 200 Bq/m³)

Voiceover: "For more information about radon and other environmental health hazards in the home visit HealthyCanadians.gc.ca/Hazardcheck or call."

(The Hazardcheck wordmark appears on screen with the following text:

Hazardcheck
HealthyCanadians.gc.ca/Hazardcheck
1 800 O-Canada (1-800-622-6232)
TTY 1-800-926-9105)

"A message from the Government of Canada."
(Transition to Canada Wordmark)