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Health Canada proposes lower limit for acceptable radon levels (2007)

But Bergeron said the decrease from 800 to 200 Bq is merely a recommendation, and Health Canada does not have authority to enforce the limits.

July 12, 2007

ROBERT WALKER

staff writer

A Health Canada proposal is underway to dramatically strengthen standards for radon in Canada.

According to Renée Bergeron, media relations officer with Health Canada, the department’s guidelines for what is considered safe amounts of radon have been dramatically downsized.

“The current guideline is 200 Becquerels (Bq) per cubic metre; it used to be 800. They did a four-fold decrease,” she said.

A Becquerel is a measure of radioactive decay that gauges the concentration of radon, which is a clear, odourless gas that exists naturally in soil, but can become dangerous if highly concentrated, such as in a basement or poorly ventilated area.

But Bergeron said the decrease from 800 to 200 Bq is merely a recommendation, and Health Canada does not have authority to enforce the limits.

“It is a non-binding instrument that defines a base line or target for action and is not enforceable, in and of itself, by Health Canada or others,” Bergeron said.

“The guideline, however, could be used as a basis for federal, provincial and municipal legislation concerning building and workplace safety.”

Last year, the head of a major organization that promotes radiation safety said Canada’s then-guideline of 800 Bq was dangerously high.

“We’re in the backwoods here in radon in homes. We’re at least 20 years behind the United States and the European Union,” Fergal Nolan, president of the Radiation Safety Institute of Canada told CBC in August, 2006.

Now, Bergeron says, Canada is no longer lagging in radiation and radon safety compared to the rest of the developed world. “This makes Canada better than, or at least equal to, other industrialized countries,” she said.

http://www.dcnonl.com/article/id23593

February 12, 2013 - Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized