Radon 1
TableofContents1.Dataforlifetimeexcesscancerriskestimates.....................................................................2
Overview.........................................................................................................................................2i. EnvironmentalConcentrations......................................................................................................2ii. CalculatedLifetimeCumulativeExposure....................................................................................2iii. UnitRiskFactor...........................................................................................................................2iv. LifetimeExcessCancerRisk(permillionpeople)........................................................................2
Supportingdatabyexposurepathway............................................................................................3i. Outdoorair....................................................................................................................................3ii. Indoorair......................................................................................................................................3iii. Dust.............................................................................................................................................8iv. Drinkingwater.............................................................................................................................8v. FoodandBeverages.....................................................................................................................8
2.Dataqualityforlifetimeexcesscancerriskestimates.........................................................9
3.Dataformappingconcentrations.......................................................................................9Provincialestimates........................................................................................................................9
i. Provincialmeasurements–Bylevel..............................................................................................9ii. Provincialmeasurements–Results............................................................................................16
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1. DataforlifetimeexcesscancerriskestimatesOverviewThesummarydatausedtocalculatelifetimeexcesscancerriskandtheresultsforradonareprovidedinthetablesbelow.Formoredetailedinformationonsupportingdataandsources,seebelowforeachexposurepathway.
i. EnvironmentalConcentrations
ii. CalculatedLifetimeCumulativeExposure
iii. UnitRiskFactor
SourcesforUnitRiskFactor:
• UnitedStatesEnvironmentalProtectionAgencyFederalGuidanceReport13.CancerRiskCoefficientsforEnvironmentalExposuretoRadionuclides(1999).
iv. LifetimeExcessCancerRisk(permillionpeople)
1Lifetimeexcesscancerriskbasedonaverageintakexcancerpotencyfactorfromeachagency2Lifetimeexcesscancerriskbasedonmaximumintakexhighestcancerpotencyfactor3CaliforniaOfficeofEnvironmentalHealthHazardAssessment
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Supportingdatabyexposurepathway
i. Outdoorair
Weassumeradonispresentattheselevelsinalloutdoorair,althoughconcentrationsmayvarygreatlyfromonelocationtoanother.Sourcesforoutdoorairdata:
• GrastyRL.(1994).SummerOutdoorRadonVariationsinCanadaandTheirRelationtoSoilMoisture.HealthPhysics66(2)pp:185-193.
ii. Indoorair
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Sourcesforindoorairdata:
• BCCDC(BritishColumbiaCentreforDiseaseControl)2007.Tableofradonmeasurements.• CarrierePE,LegareJ.1987.Radonandradondaughtersinhomesofradioactiveanomaliesof
Quebec–Oneyearstudy.IndoorRadonII-ProceedingofthesecondAPCAInternationalspecialtyconference.NewJersey:42-58.CitedinDessauetal2004.
• CarrierePE.1983.Mesuresdesderivesduradondansl’aircertainesmaisonspriveesduPontiac.RapportInterne.Ministeredel’EnvironnementduQuebec.CitedinDessauetal2004.
• ChenJ,SchrothE,MacKinlayE,FifeI,SorimachiA,andTokonamiS.2009.Simultaneous222Rnand220RnMeasurementsinWinnipeg,Canada.RadiationProtectionDosimetry134(2):75-78.
• ChenJ,TokonamiS,SorimachiA,TakahashiH,andFalcomerR.2008.PreliminaryResultsofSimultaneousRadonandThoronTestsinOttawa.RadiationProtectionDosimetry130(2):253-256.
• DessauJC,GagnonF,LevesqueB,PrevostC,LeclercJMandBelle-IslesJC.2004.LeRadonauQuebecEvaluationduRisquealaSanteetAnalyseCritiquedesStrategiesd’Intervention.InstitutNationaldeSantePubliqueduQuebec.
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• DoylePJ,GrastyRL,andCharbonneauBW.1990.Predictinggeographicvariationsinindoorradonusingairbornegamma-rayspectrometry.Currentresearch,PartA,GeologicalSurveyofCanada,Paper90-1A,27-32.CitedinDessauetal2004.
• DirectiondesSantePubliquedesLaurentides,2002.Unpublished.CitedinDessauetal2004.• DirectiondesSantePubliquedesLaurentides,dateunknown.Unpublished.CitedinDessauetal
2004.• DirectiondesSantePubliquedelaMonteregie,dateunknown.Unpublished.CitedinDessauet
al2004.• GrattonM,LacroixMA,LizotteA,andRouillonP.2004.Campagnededepistageduradon
domiciliaireaBaie-Johan-Beetz.RapportpresentedanslecadreducoursFormationprofessionnelleenentreprisesENV778,SuperviseesparGagnonF,UniversitedeSherbrooke.CitedinDessauetal2004.
• HealthCanada.2012.Cross-CanadaSurveyofRadonConcentrationsinHomes-FinalReport.EnvironmentalandWorkplaceHealth.Availableat:http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/radiation/survey-sondage/index-eng.php.
• LetourneauEG,KrewskiD,ChoiNW,GoddardMJ,McGregorRG,ZielinskiJMandDuJ.1994.Case-ControlStudyofResidentialRadonandLungCancerinWinnipeg,Manitoba,Canada.AmericanJournalofEpidemiology140(4):310-322.
• LetourneauEG,McGregorRGandWalkerWB.1984.DesignandInterpretationofLargeSurveysforIndoorExposuretoRadonDaughters.RadiationProtectionDosimetry7(1-4):303-308.
• LevesqueB,GauvinD,McGregorRG,MartelR,GingasS,DontignyA,WalkerWBandLajoieP.1995.Etuded’expositionauradon222danslesresidencesdelaprovinceduQuebec.CitedinDessauetal2004.
• SavardM,DessauJC,andPellerinE.1999a.LeradonaOka–mesurescomplementairesdeconcentrationsderadonRegieregionaldelasantéetdesservicessociauxdesLaurentides,Directiondelasantépublique,St-Jerome).CitedinDessauetal2004.
• SavardM,PellerinE,andDessauJC.1999b.EvaluationdesrisquesdesurexpositionsauradondansunsecteurdescollinesdeSaint-Andre-Est-MunicipalitedeSaint-Andre-d’Argenteuil(RapportdelaDirectionregionaledelasantépubliquedesLaurentides).CitedinDessauetal2004.
• SavardM,DessauJC,andPellerinE.1998.LeradonaOka–Rapportd’interventiondesantépublique(RegieregionaldelasantéetdesservicessociauxdesLaurentides,Directiondelasantépublique,St-Jerome).CitedinDessauetal2004.
iii. DustExposuretoradonviaingestionofdustisexpectedtobenegligible.
iv. DrinkingwaterRadonmaybepresentindrinkingwaterbutisquicklyvolatilizedtoindoorair.Exposureviaingestionofdrinkingwaterisnegligible.
v. FoodandBeveragesExposuretoradonviafoodsandbeveragesisexpectedtobenegligible.
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2. DataqualityforlifetimeexcesscancerriskestimatesOnlypubliclyavailabledatawereusedtocalculatetheseindicators.Datathatarenotpubliclyavailablemayproducedifferentresults.Nosystematicmethodformeasuringdataqualitywaspossible,soweprovidethefollowingassessmentsofhowwellthedatausedmayrepresenttheactualCanadianaveragelevels.QualityisratedhigherwhentherearedatafromanumberofCanadianmonitors,orfromCanadianstudiesthatshowresultssimilartoothercomparablestudies.Qualityisratedlowerwhendatafromfewmonitorsorstudieswereavailable,andlowestwhenestimatesarebasedonnon-Canadiandata.Othersmayratedataqualitydifferently.
3. DataformappingconcentrationsProvincialestimates
i. Provincialmeasurements–BylevelThetablesbelowshowthepercentageoftestedhomesineachprovinceandterritorythatfallwithdifferentlevels.TheWorldHealthOrganizationreferenceleveliscurrently100Bq/m3,andthecurrentCanadianguidelineis200Bq/m3.
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YT,NT&NU:
ii. Provincialmeasurements–ResultsWeused100Becquerelspercubicmeter(Bq/m3)torepresenttheaveragelevelinCanadianhomes,butlevelscanvaryregionallyandfromhometohome,makingitdifficulttoestimatetheaverageaccurately.Radonlevelsareinfluencedbybuildingstructure,ageandcondition,andbecauseofdifferencesinthesefactors,canbeelevatedinonehomebutnotinthehomenextdoor.Itisnotpossibletopredictwhetheranyonehomewillhaveahighlevelofradonanditisrecommendedthatallhomesbetested.Thetablesbelowprovideasummaryofprovincialandterritorialradonmeasurementsreportedoverthepast30years.Manyindividualsmayhavehadtheirhomestestedindependently,butthoseresultsarenotpubliclyavailable.
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2009-2010CrossCanadaRadonSurvey-Phase1Results(Bq/m3)byProvinceandTerritory(n=numberofsamples)
SummaryofRadonMeasurements(Bq/m3)Priorto2009(n=numberofsamples)
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Sourcesforprovincialestimates:• McGregorRG,VasudevP,LetourneauEG,McCulloughRS,PrantlFA,andTaniguchiH.1980.
BackgroundConcentrationsofRadonandRadonDaughtersinCanadianHomes.HealthPhysics39:285-289.
• BCCDC(BritishColumbiaCentreforDiseaseControl)2007.Tableofradonmeasurements.• LetourneauEG,McGregorRGandWalkerWB.1984.DesignandInterpretationofLargeSurveys
forIndoorExposuretoRadonDaughters.RadiationProtectionDosimetry7(1-4):303-308.• LetourneauEG,KrewskiD,ChoiNW,GoddardMJ,McGregorRG,ZielinskiJMandDuJ.1994.
Case-ControlStudyofResidentialRadonandLungCancerinWinnipeg,Manitoba,Canada.AmericanJournalofEpidemiology140(4):310-322.
• ChenJ,SchrothE,MacKinlayE,FifeI,SorimachiA,andTokonamiS.2009.Simultaneous222Rnand220RnMeasurementsinWinnipeg,Canada.RadiationProtectionDosimetry134(2):75-78.
• ChenJ,TokonamiS,SorimachiA,TakahashiH,andFalcomerR.2008.PreliminaryResultsofSimultaneousRadonandThoronTestsinOttawa.RadiationProtectionDosimetry130(2):253-256.
• CarrierePE.1983.Mesuresdesderivesduradondansl’aircertainesmaisonspriveesduPontiac.RapportInterne.Ministeredel’EnvironnementduQuebec.CitedinDessauetal2004.*
• CarrierePE,LegareJ.1987.RadonandradondaughtersinhomesofradioactiveanomaliesofQuebec–Oneyearstudy.IndoorRadonII-ProceedingofthesecondAPCAInternationalspecialtyconference.NewJersey:42-58.CitedinDessauetal2004.*
• DoylePJ,GrastyRL,andCharbonneauBW.1990.Predictinggeographicvariationsinindoorradonusingairbornegamma-rayspectrometry.Currentresearch,PartA,GeologicalSurveyofCanada,Paper90-1A,27-32.CitedinDessauetal2004.
• SavardM,PellerinE,andDessauJC.1999b.EvaluationdesrisquesdesurexpositionsauradondansunsecteurdescollinesdeSaint-Andre-Est-MunicipalitedeSaint-Andre-d’Argenteuil
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(RapportdelaDirectionregionaledelasantépubliquedesLaurentides).CitedinDessauetal2004.*
• LevesqueB,GauvinD,McGregorRG,MartelR,GingasS,DontignyA,WalkerWBandLajoieP.1995.Etuded’expositionauradon222danslesresidencesdelaprovinceduQuebec.CitedinDessauetal2004.*
• SavardM,DessauJC,andPellerinE.1998.LeradonaOka–Rapportd’interventiondesantépublique(RegieregionaldelasantéetdesservicessociauxdesLaurentides,Directiondelasantépublique,St-Jerome).CitedinDessauetal2004.*SavardM,DessauJC,andPellerinE.1999a.LeradonaOka–mesurescomplementairesdeconcentrationsderadonRegieregionaldelasantéetdesservicessociauxdesLaurentides,Directiondelasantépublique,St-Jerome).CitedinDessauetal2004.*
• DirectiondesSantePubliquedesLaurentides,2002.Unpublished.CitedinDessauetal2004.• DirectiondesSantePubliquedesLaurentides,dateunknown.Unpublished.CitedinDessauetal
2004.*• DirectiondesSantePubliquedelaMonteregie,dateunknown.Unpublished.CitedinDessauet
al2004.*• GrattonM,LacroixMA,LizotteA,andRouillonP.2004.Campagnededepistageduradon
domiciliaireaBaie-Johan-Beetz.RapportpresentedanslecadreducoursFormationprofessionnelleenentreprisesENV778,SuperviseesparGagnonF,UniversitedeSherbrooke.CitedinDessauetal2004.*
• JacksonSA.1992.EstimatingRadonPotentialfromanAerialRadiometricSurvey.HealthPhysics62(5):450–452.
*DessauJC,GagnonF,LevesqueB,PrevostC,LeclercJMandBelle-IslesJC.2004.LeRadonauQuebecEvaluationduRisquealaSanteetAnalyseCritiquedesStrategiesd’Intervention.InstitutNationaldeSantePubliqueduQuebec.