As the latest provincial budget was tabled and passed, NB Lung president and CEO Melanie Langille was disappointed not to see the province offer a radon mitigation program for homeowners.
“We are losing too many New Brunswickers to preventable lung cancer,” Langille said.
Radon is an odourless, colourless gas that can cause lung cancer after long-term exposure and is abundant in New Brunswick due to its geology. It’s estimated by a 2012 Health Canada study that one in five homes in the province have levels that would warrant repair.
Langille says the province is the only province without financial support in place to help people remediate their homes to bring the gas down to safe levels, the cost of which is often up to $3,000.
“Knowing that this is preventable just urges us to urge our government to support people in making these repairs to their home, because it’s nobody’s fault that the radon is high in our province, but the cost to repair is out of reach for too many people,” she said.
“Everything is so expensive these days between groceries and gas and everything. It’s one more thing for families to worry about and it’s going to get put to the side.
NB Lung has also announced the recent death of one of its radon advocates, Angela Steif Lea, who was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer due to exposure to the gas.
Liberal leader Susan Holt says the government needs to step up to address the issue.
“NB Lung has taken the imitative to create programs to make available radon test kits in libraries and other places and the government should be supporting that so that every New Brunswicker can have access because the best kind of health care is preventative healthcare,” she said.
The province has been addressing radon levels in public housing, remediating 283 units last year. Langille applauds those efforts but says that grant or loan programs seen in other jurisdictions are needed to address worrying exposure rates in privately owned homes.
Acting in a preventative manner may save money in the long term as well, she suggests. Remediation usually costs around $3000, while those sick with lung cancer cost the health system around $70,000 per year.
Green leader David Coon said that New Brunswick public health should take a more active role in promoting awareness and that no home in the province should be at risk from radon. He adds that existing provincial programs can be put to work to help identify problem homes.
“Whenever anyone signs up for an energy efficiency program, part of that that there automatically should be a radon test to determine whether they have a health risk related to radon gas in their homes or not,” he said.
NB Lung has testing kits available for $60 and electronic kits can be rented from a number of public libraries.
The province did not make anyone available for an interview.