Mould/Radon Inspections

Not to mention cigarette smoke, teflon pans, off gasing from paints, solvents, cleaners, plastics, manmade products such as wood, pet danders, plants, and other items…

I would certiantly include formadehyde in that list.

EPA ASKS COMPANIES TO PREVENT RELEASE OF TOXIC CHEMICAL IN TEFLONIn a rare move against a widely used industrial compound, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that it is asking U.S. companies to virtually eliminate public exposure to a toxic chemical used to make Teflon and thousands of other products. Although the effort is voluntary, the federal government has rarely taken such a sweeping, accelerated action against an industrial compound. The eight companies that use perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) to make an array of nonstick and stain-resistant products are expected to comply, cutting releases from their plants and products by 95 percent over the next four years and completely soon after that.

Marla Cone, Los Angeles Times, 1/26/06
Read the complete article

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002762516_teflon26.html

Its a little difficult to conduct my own survey when the sampling group (friends, family, and the very odd client) are the only ones interested. Of course friends and family are only interested because its free :roll:

So most information I have is from other sources. If you have some radon data Tyrone by all means share :slight_smile:

There is this map http://gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/gamma/images/canrad.gif but I can’t make it out in detail.

FYI:
Much of the Canadian research on Radon has come from the province of Manitoba. Even the data/statistics that the federAL government produces (what little there is) comes mostly from Manitoba or from the EPA.

Ontario Building Code
**2.1.1.8. Radon **
**(1) **In addition to all other requirements, a building in the following designated areas shall be designed and constructed so that the annual average concentration of radon 222 does not exceed 250 millibecquerels per litre of air and the annual average concentration of the short lived daughters of radon 222 does not exceed 0.02 working levels inside the building
(a) The Town of Elliot Lake in the Territorial District of Algoma,
(b) The Township of Faraday in the County of Hastings, and
(c) The geographic Township of Hyman in the Territorial District of Sudbury.
9.13.7.1. Soil Gas Control
**(1) **Where methane or radon gases are known to be a problem, construction shall comply with the requirements for soil gas control in the Supplementary Guidelines.

Right on target Paul, et al - lots of interesting info out there.
More food for thought!

http://www.modernsolutionsinc.com/radon.htm

http://www.elements.nb.ca/theme/fuels/illness/caused.htm

Two places that come to mind for radon are Colburn on Lake Erie and Port Hope east of Toronto .
Both these places had free dirt that was loaded with uranium spread all over the areas.
I do believe the Government has done much testing in the Towns and has marked all the hot spots .
I do not believe they have tested in the outer areas though.
Roy sr.

Yes, I have heard about the radon problems in Port Hope. Never new it was an “imported” :wink: though.

I have found a reading of 10 pCi/L in the Dundalk area.

Roy,

You should like this one http://www.allaroundthehouse.com/re.let6-7.htm :wink:

You might be surprised what lurks about. Down here in Windsor you could get foundry sand for fill for free. Many trucking companies were using it from one of the automotive plant foundries in the city on construction sites. Eventually it was found to contain contaminants (surprise, surprise) that ate through buried copper water supply lines.

It does not hurt to have a better understanding of the environment that home inspectors practice in. It’s all part of continuing our education, and its for free! Unless one falls victim to a nasty lawyer letter - trying to blame us for most anything.

Thanks Claude, for posting the map. It looks like only the north east corner of Alberta has any radioactivity. Looks like the area follows the Larention (Sp?) shield.

Not imported there is a big plant there still working I understand and the story is they made the enriched uranimun for the first atomic bombs?
Roy sr

I use to work in a building in Toronto (Richmond and Church Street) that was radioactive. The building use to house a instrument company that used Radium on guages used in airplanes during WW2. The building is still in use for offices.

Well, I guess you don’t have to worry about your flashlight batteries giving out when your in a crawlspace. If they do, the glow comeing from you should be enough to see where you are going. :smiley:

Doug:

Thanks for the info- I checked the website seems like they jut do analysis- dont provide any testing materials etc?

Hi Doug, Actually Sporometrics rents the pump & you can purchase the air-o-cell cassettes from them. They ship directly to you. All the best! Doug

Hi Doug, Actually Sporometrics rents the pumps & sells the air-o-cell cassettes. They’ll ship directly to you. All the best! Doug

Saturday Star March 6, 2006
Classified Section - Personal Space
Front page C2

The mould hunter.

The article mentions… quote "the province is so concerned about mould due to grow-ops that an envriornmental assessment is mandatory for all homes once used to grow marijuana (Bill 128).

Has anyone heard of this Bill?

http://www.ontla.on.ca/documents/Bills/38_Parliament/session2/b128ra_e.htm

http://www.ontla.on.ca/library/bills/381/128381.htm

http://www.obc.mah.gov.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_4_25973_1.html

Raymond:
Read an article in the homes section of the star about mold inspections.

Looks like there is a big investment in equipment but might be worth while

Cheers

Doug