August 22, 2019 Vol. 19, No. 33
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Over 2/3 of South Frontenac homes are over the WHO danger line, over 50% elsewhere in Frontenac and L&A
Dangerous levels of radon found in most KFL&A homes by Jeff Green ver two thirds of South Frontenac residents have dangerous levels of radon in the living area of their home - 55% elsewhere in Frontenac and L&A New study sees much greater radon risk in Frontenac and L&A Counties than originally thought. A study that was initiated partly because of the risk of high radon levels in Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington had already been identified as significantly greater than the national average, has shown that homes in the region have about a 50% chance of contamination above the World Health Organisation danger line. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer, after smoking. Lung cancer causes more deaths each year than any other cancer, and cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada. Testing was done on 1084 homes as part of a survey and information campaign that was initiated in December of 2018 as part of the KFL&A Public Health radon mitigation strategy. A previous nationwide study by Health Canada in 2009 included only 99 houses in KFL&A. 11% of those tests showed levels about 200 Bq/m³ (Bequerelles per cubic metre – Bequerelles are a measure of radioactive disintegration) The Public Health study was 10 times as large, 1049, and the results were three times as severe. In all of Frontenac County, Stone Mills and Addington Highlands, over 34% of households had levels above 200 Bq/
O
m³. For reporting purposes, the results from Central and North Frontenac, Addington Highlands and Stone Mills were bundled together, as were those for South Frontenac and Frontenac Islands. That gave enough samples in the survey (2% of the households in each survey region) for the researchers to be able to say the results are accurate with a plus or minus range of 10%. The 34% result in Frontenac County, for example, represents a range between 30.6% and 37.6%. But these numbers, as alarming as they may look, do not capture the entire risk to Frontenac and L&A homeowners. Erin Hayes, a Public Health Promoter with KFL&A Public Health and one of the researchers who worked on the survey, points out that the World Health Organisation (WHO) uses a different measure to determine a dangerous level for radon, 100 Bq/ m³. “The WHO standard is based on the level at which an increased risk of lung cancer can
be established, and we have recommended that Health Canada adopt it as a standard since it is internationally recognised and is based on an identified risk,” she said, in a telephone interview this week. Using the 100 Bq/m³ standard, 68.9% of households in South Frontenac and Frontenac Islands have radon levels that are unsafe, as do 53.4% of households in Central and North Frontenac, Addington Highlands and Stone Mills. And on the upper level of risk, 4% of the households in the South Frontenac/ Frontenac Island cohort and an alarming 7.6% of households in the CF/NF Addington Highlands and Stone Mills have levels that were at the high danger level, over 600 Bq/ m³ The report makes 7 recommendations for action, which include improved health messaging, advocacy, further testing and changes to the building code so new homes are built with the capacity to keep radon out.
In November, KFL&A Public Health Offices will be selling radon tests at a bargain price of $20. The tests can be returned to the same offices within 90 days for analysis. “We recommend that every household in KFL&A do the test,” said Erin Hayes, “the results across the region are so seemingly random. We had households on one street with wildly varying results, so it is best for everyone to find out for themselves what the level is in their own home.” Remediation can cost $1,500 to $2,000 or more in some cases. There are also techniques that can eliminate the risk of water and radon seepage when new homes are being built. In 1976 the national building code included a regulation that new homes be built with these safeguards in place, but that part of the code has never been adopted by local municipalities Activist John McEwen has been advocating for that to happen in South Frontenac. He even ran for Mayor and MPP with the sole purpose of advocating for changes in those regulations in South Frontenac. But if South Frontenac were to adopt those rules, the cost of construction in the township would be higher than in townships that have not adopted the relevant clause from the national building code. Numerous chief building officials and township councils have rejected McEwen’s calls for changes to local building regula-
tions over the years.
With help, Sydenham man survives severe lighting srike
Brad Telford, with his wife Megan and their son John by Jeff Green he day started out calmly enough. Brad Telford, who has lived on the Campbell Road near Sydenham with his wife Megan and their 2 1/2 year old son John for about a year and half, did some indoor chores last Saturday morning (August 10) because it was raining. When the weather cleared up, he went outside to do some yard work. The weather, as far as he could tell at the time, was fine, as he began filling some bird feeders with birdseed in the yard. He was listening to some music through ear buds that were connected to his phone, which was in his pocket. It was all pretty normal Saturday stuff.
T
He did not know what hit him. “All I knew was that I had been blown back from the bird feeder and that I was on the ground and I felt that I was paralysed. I could smell burning flesh. I was trying to move my legs but I could not move them at all,” he said in a phone interview on Thursday evening (August 15). He was all alone, and thought he might be done for. But Megan heard the bang and saw the flash of lightening, as had their neighbour Chad Hotner. It took a minute or two to locate him, but when they did Chad, who has a military background, took control. Brad’s shirt and shorts were gone, as were his phone and ear buds. Chad told Megan and his own son Milo to get some blankets and call 911. “Fortunately, our son John slept through the whole ordeal,” said Megan later. They were pretty concerned, because of the extreme nature of the lightening strike and the severity of some of the burns on Brad’s body, particularly a diagonal burn across his torso where the cord for the ear buds had been laying. Also, by this time a storm was really brewing and the rain was coming. Within a few minutes, the first responders were on the scene and the system kicked into gear. Members of the South Frontenac Fire Department, some in their own vehicles, were the first to arrive, and one of them informed Brad that he is a full-time paramedic when he isn’t volunteering with the fire department. “After he said that and I saw what was going on, I began to feel that maybe I would live through this,” Brad recalls, “at least I knew that the right things were going to be done.” The firefighters prepared him to be lifted onto a stretcher and when the Frontenac Paramedics arrived, they helped lift him onto the stretcher and into the ambulance, which rushed
him to KGH. “When we got to KGH there was a whole medical crew waiting to treat me. The medical team at KGH contacted the burn unit at Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto for advice, and soon decided that it was best to send Brad there. He was taken to the airport and flown to Pearson on an ORNGE plane, and then whisked by ambulance to Sunnybrook. “They did everything, looked internally to see if there was any damage, got my electrolytes straightened around and evaluated my burns. On Wednesday they told me they did not think they needed to do any skin grafts and that as long as I changed my dressings every day I would heal up on my own. Five days after being struck by lighting, Brad was back home, still in considerable pain and in need of a few weeks of healing, but home, safe and sound with his family. His main emotions are relief and The cell phone didn't make it gratitude. “From the volunteer firefighters, the paramedics and medical teams at KGH and Sunnybrook, I received the best care I could imagine. I’m very grateful for everything they have done. We are very lucky to have these kinds of services in our communities,” he said. He also admitted that, in the past, he was not one to take every precaution during electrical storms, but that will change in the future, even though he could not have foreseen the strike that hit him on this occasion. (Note – Megan reported to us on Monday (August 19) that Brad’s “burns are healing beautifully. It’s amazing really.”)
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