Radon gas may be giving more Canadians lung cancer. Scientists are racing to save lives

When Steve Blake moved into his brand new home in 1995, he felt lucky. 

The house was well-built. Solid construction. No leaks. The basement was comfortable enough to work in, so every weekday morning, after seeing his kids off to school, the Calgary financial advisor set up shop downstairs in his home office.

Blake kept up that routine for more than a quarter-century, spending roughly six hours a day, five days a week, in the basement.

He had no idea it could be slowly killing him.

In 2023, at the age of 55, he developed a nagging cough. Blake didn’t worry much at first; he felt healthy, biked regularly and had a reputation as one of Alberta’s top golfers. 

Then one morning, while gearing up to play a round, the father of two struggled to catch his breath. Doctors later told him devastating news: he had inoperable Stage 4 lung cancer and only 12 to 14 months to live. 

Blake and his wife, Kelly, were stunned. Blake had never smoked or even been around secondhand smoke. The couple started doing research, trying to figure out what could have led to such a grim prognosis.

One word kept coming up: radon.

This odourless, invisible and highly toxic gas can build up inside your home. When Blake installed a radon monitor in his basement late last year, its average readings over the winter months were consistently high.

“There’s no test or bloodwork they can pull from me that would conclusively say, ‘It was your basement that gave you this cancer, it’s the house that’s going to kill you,’” Blake said during an interview in December with CBC News. Still, the possibilities haunt him. 

“What was I breathing in, for so long, all those years?”

No one wants to imagine their home could threaten their health, but when radon seeps in, that’s exactly what happens. 

This naturally occurring gas is released from the ground as the uranium in soil and rock breaks down. It isn’t a health concern when it’s diluted in the air, or if someone’s home has a radon mitigation system to safely funnel the gas outside.

But when radon builds up indoors and is inhaled over time, it exposes people to radiation that wreaks slow and steady havoc on their lung cells.