Radon Testing in Federal Buildings - Highlights

In late 2007 Health Canada began testing radon levels in federal buildings. The purpose of this project is to identify federal workplaces with radon levels above the Canadian Radon Guideline of 200 Bq/m³. This will allow federal employers and building managers to address the need for remediation, should it be necessary.

Health Canada provides the radon detectors and instructions on where to place them as well as the laboratory analysis and results. Each individual department or building manager is responsible for deploying detectors in the buildings and sending them back to Health Canada’s National Radon Laboratory for analysis. All radon tests are conducted using long-term (3-month) radon detectors.

Following is a breakdown of the Federal Building radon test results as of December 2011.

Total number of Buildings	7239
Number of Buildings with average Radon below 200 Bq/m3	6887
Number of Buildings with average Radon between 200 and 600 Bq/m3	301
Number of Buildings with average Radon above 600 Bq/m3	51

As of December 2011 approximately 4.9% of the federal buildings tested have average radon concentrations above the Canadian Guideline.

The testing of federal workplaces is on-going and will continue until the end of March 2013. Canadian federal building owners or facility managers are welcome to contact Health Canada for information on radon testing at 613-948-1369 or radon@hc-sc.gc.ca.

Health Canada is working in partnership with a number of organizations to raise awareness about the risks from radon including the Canadian Lung Association, Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Medical Association.

Health Canada has developed a number of resources including brochures, facstsheets and guides to help Canadians learn about radon and how to protect themselves and their family by testing and reducing the level, if necessary.