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It’s silent and it’s deadly. And it may be lurking in your house.

Radon gas is prevalent across the prairies and a Calgary scientist is trying to determine how widespread the risk is in the city.

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The preliminary data is concerning.

“One in five (homes) are over the maximum acceptable limit. That’s quite high and very surprising,” said Aaron Goodarzi, an assistant professor at U of C’s Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute. He is spearheading a project to collect data to map the prevalence of the cancer-causing gas. So far, the team has tested 268 homes and aims to have 1,000 homeowners enrolled by the end of January.

Calgary’s early results are even more concerning if measured against U.S. guidelines and those issued by the World Health Organization, which are more stringent.

Health Canada sets an acceptable annual rate of 200 becquerels per cubic metre (200 Bq/m3), while the U.S. rate is 150 and the World Health Organization has proposed recommended levels of 100. The term describes how many radioactive radon particles are decaying every second in every cubic metre of air.