Radon Testing and Outreach to Public and Independent Schools Across the Southern Interior of British Columbia

SETTING: Public health engaged with school management across the southern interior of the province of British Columbia, Canada within the geographical boundary of Interior Health, to prompt voluntary radon testing by offering free radon detectors to schools. The outreach encompassed 387 school sites across 17 public school districts and 53 independent schools in the region. INTERVENTION: Five thousand nine hundred ninety-two radon detectors were supplied for testing at participating sites for a minimum 3-month deployment with an additional 19 continuous radon monitors supplied to support follow-up testing. Technical support was also offered as an incentive to test. A comprehensive communications plan was developed to increase engagement and radon awareness among school management, staff, parents, and students. OUTCOMES: Four thousand nine hundred eighty-seven total test results were obtained from 282 out of a total of 387 school sites in the Interior Health region. Thirty-two (11%) of tested school sites had at least one result above the Canadian guideline level of 200 Bq/m3 and 75 (27%) had at least one result above the World Health Organization reference level of 100 Bq/m3. School sites with high radon levels were provided follow-up mitigation support. Engagement with school management, staff, parents, and students about radon had many challenges and varying levels of success. DISCUSSION: There is currently no regulatory requirement to test for radon in schools in British Columbia. Radon results in school buildings exceeding the Canadian and World Health Organization guidance were expected given the documented high radon concentrations in the region. Although there was moderate success in the voluntary participation by schools, the need for continued public health radon awareness efforts including promoting the importance of radon surveillance in schools remains. Learnings from this undertaking can help inform public health policy efforts related to radon, including potential implementation of a regulatory approach to ensure routine radon testing in schools.