Article content continued

Four out of every 10 children and teens spend at least three hours a day in their basements, and 14 per cent have a bedroom at or below ground level. Outside the home, 20 per cent of kids spend a minimum of three hours in basements or in ground-floor environments such as classrooms and daycares.

Based on a March 2012 report, Health Canada says one in 20 Ontario homes contain dangerous levels of the cancer-causing gas, which, according to the cancer society, kills 850 Ontarians each year, 10 times as many people as house fires and carbon monoxide poisoning combined, and accounts for 13 per cent of lung cancer deaths in the province per year.

At-home test kits can be purchased over the Internet or from a hardware or home improvement store, or a professional can be hired to test for radon.

It is recommended people use the at-home test for at least three months, ideally between September and April, when windows and doors are typically kept closed. At the end of this period the kit is sent to a lab for analysis (that information is included in the kit).

Kovacs’s kit cost $50 (including lab costs), but kits typically range between $25 and $170 according to the City of Ottawa.

Her home tested at 303 bcq/m3 (becquerels per cubic metre) above Health Canada’s recommended guideline of 200 bcq/m3. Given her levels were higher, their home required remediation. The one-day job involved drilling a hole in the basement floor and installing piping and a fan unit to vent the gas outside the home.

While the remediation cost $3,400 was covered with her Tarion Home Warranty (her family has lived in their house for six years and the warranty was good for seven years), she would have had the work done regardless.

“It’s just peace of mind. Every time my kids go down (to the basement) I’m not concerned about what they are breathing in or how much time they’re spending down there because we’ve taken care of that problem.”

pmccooey@ottawacitizen.com