Water may soon be unsafe

[OllyV]

IH, Health Canada, and all the science people that work for this machine are required. We need standards and testing for various things that are quite nasty to human health.
I just can't help but be puzzled at how we survived this long before them. An extra ten k for a new home because radon gas should be dealt with. 24 million for magnesium mitigation for water that has been drank for 100 yrs....and I am unaware of any media reports of magnesium caused deaths??
Seems like we may have created a nanny state of concern for nothing to get excited about, costs us millions for a lottery ticket chance of ill health, and is kind of self serving cuz unless these people find something new that the public should be afraid of and should shell out millions of dollars to fix.........they would have nothing to do all day for their salary and non defined gov't pension for life.

I can't speak to magnesium (because I personally am unfamiliar with it) but radon is the second highest cause of lung cancer after cigarettes. It has been well researched. Look it up. Google can be your friend.

And in most homes a few thousand dollars at most would completely mitigate that risk. Much less in new homes. Even if it was 10k (which it isn't) it'd be worth it. People spend that much on a fridge and stove and don't bat an eye.

For future reference, research first and then beak off. It adds more to the conversation. And you won't give misleading "facts".

And as far as surviving before much of this testing... we didn't. We died because of these things. We died younger and more frequently. We are living longer and dying less than any time in human history due to these "science people" who dedicate their lives to research that saves lives of idiots to stupid to understand they are being saved.

[twobits]

And as far as surviving before much of this testing... we didn't. We died because of these things. We died younger and more frequently. We are living longer and dying less than any time in human history due to these "science people" who dedicate their lives to research that saves lives of idiots to stupid to understand they are being saved.

Ya we are living longer than ever. But with no quality of life.
Drive the price of a single detached home up 5 to 20k for Radon gas venting?? Wanna talk housing crisis and rents out of control? It is in a large part because of nanny state governance and protecting us from every possible peril......and every new one found every year to be included in the building code to "save us" from our own incompetence.
3000 people died from radon lung cancer last yr in Canada if you can accept the study logic. That would be about 3 people in the Okanagan.
So the price of every new construction home goes up 10k

[OllyV]

Ya we are living longer than ever. But with no quality of life.
Drive the price of a single detached home up 5 to 20k for Radon gas venting?? Wanna talk housing crisis and rents out of control? It is in a large part because of nanny state governance and protecting us from every possible peril......and every new one found every year to be included in the building code to "save us" from our own incompetence.
3000 people died from radon lung cancer last yr in Canada if you can accept the study logic. That would be about 3 people in the Okanagan.
So the price of every new construction home goes up 10k

I'm not sure where you are getting your pricing on radon mitigation from but you are out to lunch. I'm in the industry, your low end is the top end. That's on an existing retrofit, easier on a new build.

Like I said people spend that much on an entrance door, window or appliance and don't bat an eye. Go take one of the many locally offered courses on radon awareness. I guarantee your tune will change. Knowledge is power.

Building codes and water quality standards save lives. It isn't even up for debate. The evidence is in I'm afraid.

And if you think our quality of life is historically low... well, you need to read more history.

I think I'll take the advice from your signature bar. Thanks for the tip.

[twobits]

Well aware of costs. All too well. My point seems to have been lost because of this specific topic......that being that a great deal of the affordable housing issue is unnecessary regulation by too many self serving bureaucrats creating a reason for their job posting. Look at a Provincial Map of Radon gas risk for Penticton and than honestly tell me that the added expense to accommodation here is required? A penticton resident has a higher chance of getting beaver fever from their tap than lung cancer from radon gas imo. But I will stand down on this public safety alert concern.

[OllyV]

Well aware of costs. All too well. My point seems to have been lost because of this specific topic......that being that a great deal of the affordable housing issue is unnecessary regulation by too many self serving bureaucrats creating a reason for their job posting. Look at a Provincial Map of Radon gas risk for Penticton and than honestly tell me that the added expense to accommodation here is required? A penticton resident has a higher chance of getting beaver fever from their tap than lung cancer from radon gas imo. But I will stand down on this public safety alert concern.

The map is really just a slowly evolving guideline. Although it has improved in recent years.

Radon is tricky. You can test one house and get low numbers and test another right next door and get very high numbers. I have seen dangerously high numbers in the valley. Even in "low risk" areas.

The are definitely some "nanny state" regulations. Defining beer pint volume by law for example. However, radon definitely isn't one of them. It is very, very serious.

Particularly if you are having young people living in lower level rooms of your house. The earlier and longer the exposure creates exponentially higher rates of cancer in adulthood. It isn't a joke.

Radon mitigation should be mandatory on all new builds. At that stage it is relatively inexpensive and saves lives. It doesn't take many prolonged cancer treatments to offset the cost of radon mitigation.

It's coming. Possibly in the next code. Some jurisdictions are aleady moving that way ahead of the code.

Like I said, if you are interested, take a course. They are cheap and you will find your lack of concern is wrong. I did just that and found I was wrong as well. That's how education works.

The more education you get, the more you realize how little you know.

[OllyV]

Well aware of costs. All too well. My point seems to have been lost because of this specific topic......that being that a great deal of the affordable housing issue is unnecessary regulation by too many self serving bureaucrats creating a reason for their job posting. Look at a Provincial Map of Radon gas risk for Penticton and than honestly tell me that the added expense to accommodation here is required? A penticton resident has a higher chance of getting beaver fever from their tap than lung cancer from radon gas imo. But I will stand down on this public safety alert concern.

The map is a rough guide at best. It a slowly evolving process. It has been improving in the past few years though.

Radon is tricky stuff. You can test one house and get low numbers, test the one next door and be off the charts. I have seen very high numbers locally. Even in "low risk" areas.

It isn't something to be flippant with. It is very, very serious. Particularly if you have children in lower levels of the house. Children are more vulnerable as the longer and younger you are exposed you have exponentially higher rates of cancer.

Radon mitigation should be mandatory in all new builds. It would be less than 1% cost increase on most houses and virtually eliminating the risk. It would take the cost of medical treatment for very few cases of lung cancer to pay for countless radon systems.

There are many nanny state laws, regulating beer pint volume by law for one, but radon mitigation isn't one of them. I expect we may see it mandatory in the next code. Some jurisdictions are already making it mandatory ahead of the code. Our code had got tougher on it over the last two iterations. It's done in stages to allow builders time to familiarize themselves with the requirements.

Like I said, take a one day course if you are curious. They come by every so often and they are inexpensive. You'll find your current opinion is wrong. That's what I did and that's how I learned I was wrong. Very wrong. That's how education works.

I find the more education I get the more I realize how little I know.