The Situation: Unprecedented Demand for Radon Detectors!
What an incredible day for radon awareness in our community! After a local resident’s Facebook post and the sharing of my MLA radon webpage, we’ve been flooded with over 30+ requests for radon detectors through the website, email, and phone. It’s amazing to see how proactive our community is about health and safety.
With so much interest, we’ve started a short waitlist for our loaner detectors, and I’m already working on getting more so everyone who wants to test their home can do so. This surge really highlights how important it is to keep raising awareness about radon, the second leading cause of lung cancer.
Provincial Radon Funding: What Nova Scotia Offers Now
The Province of Nova Scotia is already heavily invested in protecting residents from radon. I want to ensure every constituent knows about the critical, provincially-funded programs currently managed by Lung NSPEI that offer direct financial assistance today.
FREE RADON TEST KITS FOR LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS:
If your annual household income is less than $60,000 per year, you may qualify for a free long-term radon test kit. This is a crucial step to determine if your home has elevated levels.
You can learn more and apply here: https://www.lungnspei.ca/freeradontestkits
RADON REDUCTION GRANT PROGRAM: MITIGATION ASSISTANCE:
For homeowners with high radon levels who need to remediate their homes, financial support of up to $2,500 is available.
To qualify, your latest Notice of Assessment (CRA document) must show an annual household income of less than $100,000. If there are two people on the home title, both will need to submit their Notice of Assessment.
You can find details and application forms here: https://www.lungnspei.ca/radonmitigationassistance
Building New Partnerships & Exploring Solutions
To help address this growing demand and ensure everyone has the support they need, I’ve been busy connecting with experts. I recently spoke with Ryan Groombridge from Force Radon Solutions, a C-NRPP certified mitigation professional in our area. We had a very productive discussion, and I’m happy to share an avenue for support:
Free Professional Testing for High-Risk Individuals: I’ve worked out an agreement where Force Radon Solutions can offer free professional radon testing for (a limited number of) individuals identified as high-risk. More details on how to access this will be shared soon. If you feel you or someone you know is in this category please reach out.
- Professional Installation often below the provincial grant limit: Force Radon Solutions is committed to working closely with qualifying grant recipients to provide certified radon mitigation installation costs that are often below the provincial grant limit of $2,500. This means recipients may have little to no out-of-pocket expenses for this essential remediation work, making the provincial program even more impactful.
- Reach out for details and contact information.
Potential Upcoming Information Session: Learn from the Experts!
Ryan Groombridge and Force Radon Solutions have also generously offered to host a comprehensive information session for our community. This would be an invaluable opportunity to learn directly from experts about radon risks, testing, and mitigation strategies.
We are even exploring the possibility of having Dr. Alison Wallace, a Surgeon-Scientist from the Division of Thoracic Surgery at Dalhousie University and the QEII Health Sciences Centre, join the session. Dr. Wallace is a leading provincial expert in lung cancer, and her research specifically studies how environmental exposures, like radon, contribute to lung cancer development. Her insights into this critical health risk would be incredibly beneficial.
Are you interested in attending an information session like this? Please let us know in the comments below or by replying to this email! Your feedback will help us arrange the best possible session for our community.
