Exposure To Low Levels Of Radon Appears To Reduce The Risk Of Lung Cancer, New Study Finds
Exposure to levels of radon gas typically found in 90 percent of American homes appears to reduce the risk of developing lung cancer by as much as 60 percent, according to a study published in the March issue of the journal Health Physics. The finding differs significantly from the results of previous case-control studies of the effects of low-level radon exposure, which have detected a slightly elevated lung cancer risk (but without statistical significance) or no risk at all.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 9:34 pm and is filed under Research, Radon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
At 4:04 pm on April 28th, 2008 Gloria Linnertz said:
From fear that people who read the WPI study on radon will get the wrong idea about this silent, deadly killer that creeps into our homes without our knowledge, I feel compelled to say that the US EPA, Surgeon General, American Lung Association, American Medical Association, and National Safety Council recommend testing your home for radon because testing is the only way to know your home’s radon levels. According to the EPA radon gas is the Number One cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers and the Number Two cause overall.
Here are some comments from experts in the field.
“The North American and European pooling provides unambiguous and direct evidence of an increased lung cancer risk EVEN AT RESIDENTIAL RADON EXPOSURE LEVELS BELOW THE U.S. EPA ACTION LEVEL.”–Results from the largest radon studies ev er conducted in North America and Europe; Dr. Bill Field, participating in the World Health Organization.
Bill Angell, a member of the World Health Organization, International Radon Project, and a building scientist at the University of Minnesota, stated the following: “From time to time, there are studies that appear in the popular media with headlines that read something like, “Low Radon is Safe,” or otherwise imply that indoor radon is not the health risk that science has otherwise established. But remember, no single study is viewed as definitive (proving or disproving anything) and when considered in the overall mix of occupational cohort studies of underground miners, nearly 40 residential case-control studies and the 2 pooling studies, this study does not change the overall conclusion that the radon risk is LNT and any unnecessary exposure should be avoided.”