Event Details

Increased risk of lung cancer from an environmental carcinogen exposure such as radon gas is a function of how much carcinogen is in a building, and how much time a person spends in that building over time. Over the past decade, a Canadian alliance of research and public health partners, including those involved in the Evict Radon National Study, Health Canada, and others, have integrated residential radon gas readings with housing, community, and population information to establish a symmetric understanding of radon exposure within the residential built environment. These outcomes were released as the “Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Exposure in the Residential Buildings of Urban and Rural Communities” in late 2024 and reported that 17.8% of houses in Canada exceeded the Canadian Radon Guideline of 200 Bq/m3, with profound differences based on region, urban-to-rural community, and residential building design type within Canada.

This PHO Rounds will provide an update on national radon exposure statistics for 2025 and describe the quantitative impact that these have had on Canadian health-seeking attitudes and behaviour such as lung cancer risk awareness. This session will also explain how the team communicated radon-related health risks and used the radon report findings, alongside time-use data across different environments, to estimate the Canadian population-attributable risk of lung cancer from residential radon exposure.

Dr. Aaron Goodarzi, PhD is the Director of the Robson DNA Science Centre, and is the Lead of Science Communication for the University of Calgary’s Charbonneau Cancer Institute. Dr. Goodarzi is also the founder and Scientific Director of The Evict Radon National Study, a transdisciplinary, national research project aimed at enabling research into understanding and engineering out  lung cancer-causing radon gas exposure  from the Canadian residential environment.

The opinions expressed by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies or views of Public Health Ontario, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by Public Health Ontario.

Public Health Ontario Rounds are a self-approved group learning activity (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC).

Other colleges, including the College of Family Physicians of Canada, Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario and the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors, may accept RCPSC accredited events on a per-hour basis. Please contact your relevant college should you have any questions.

In order to receive written documentation for Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits, please check "Yes" beside the question "Do you require CME credits?" on the registration form.

For more information or for a record of registration for other Continuing Education purposes, please contact capacitybuilding@oahpp.ca.

Public Health Ontario is committed to complying with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). If you require accommodations to participate in this event, please contact 647-260-7100 or capacitybuilding@oahpp.ca.