Understanding Exposures and Communicating Risks from Radon with Canadians

At this time, 1 in 5 people who experience lung cancer in Canada have never smoked a tobacco product, amounting to >100,000 cases since 2001. This presentation will highlight the leading cause of lung cancer amongst Canadians who do not smoke tobacco – radioactive radon gas exposure within the residential and occupational environment. The latest research on the scale and scope of Canadian radon exposure, how to communicate risks across diverse groups, and how to protect against exposure at the individual, community, and national level will be discussed. You will also learn how to protect yourself and those in your home.

L earning objectives:

At the end of this seminar attendees will be able to:

• Understand the basics of Radon Gas exposure in Canada, and exposure prevention.
• Appreciate differences between diverse people in terms of radon exposure and health risks.
• Realise that effective radon risk communication is a function of target audience age, occupation, gender, and other lifestyle factors.

Presenter: Dr. Aaron Goodarzi

Dr. Goodarzi is the Scientific Director of the Evict Radon National Study, the Lead of Science Communication for the Charbonneau Cancer Institute, and an Associate Professor in the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine.

He has graduate degrees in radiation biology and the science of DNA damage repair, and since 2015 has been leading transdisciplinary research into understanding and engineering out lung cancer-causing radon gas exposure in Canada, spanning biology, geology, physics, medicine, population health, architecture, policy, communications, and behavioural science.

The Occupational and Environmental Health Seminar Series is a self-approved group learning activity (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification program of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. The series is also approved by Council of Professional Experience for professional development hours (PDHs) for members of the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors (CIPHI), and by the Canadian Registration Board of Occupational Hygienists (CRBOH) for Registration Maintenance (RM) points. For more information, please contact Victoria Arrandale (victoria.arrandale@utoronto.ca).

***Please note: This event is online only. ***

Register Here