[ RadSafe ] Annual dose from Nature/Background/Man-made sources

[Wes Van Pelt]

Rainer,

In my paper, EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONS AMONG LUNG CANCER,RADON EXPOSURE
AND ELEVATION ABOVE SEA LEVEL—A REASSESSMENT OF COHEN’S COUNTY LEVEL RADON
STUDY, Health Physics, October 2003, Volume 85, Number 4, I conjecture that
decreased atmospheric oxygen concentrations at higher altitude protects
against radiation damage (lung cancer).

I stratify Dr. Cohen's data and remove much, but not all, of his negative
association between lung cancer and radon. I believe Dr. Cohen accepts my
analysis but argues that EITHER less oxygen or more radon (or a combination
of both) is associated with decreased lung cancer. My argument in this case
also rests on biological plausibility. That is, lower oxygen concentration
at the sensitive cells in the lung is more likely to decrease lung cancer
than is high LET alpha radiation likely to decrease lung cancer. 

Best regards,  Wes
Wesley R. Van Pelt, PhD, CIH, CHP 
Wesley R. Van Pelt Associates, Inc.  
 


-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On Behalf
Of Rainer.Facius at dlr.de
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2007 3:22 AM
To: Peter.Vernig at va.gov; idias at interchange.ubc.ca;
jdaitken at sugar-land.oilfield.slb.com; Mike.Brennan at DOH.WA.GOV;
radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject: AW: [ RadSafe ] Annual dose from Nature/Background/Man-made sources

"... a few of us, unfortunately have a very high [radon] exposure if we live
in a problem house ..."

Peter:

Why do you call the 'few of us' unfortunate if indeed the fact of being
exposed to higher levels of domestic radon has incontrovertibly been shown
to be associated with significantly reduced lung cancer mortality - in line
with most other studies, which have investigated the association of low dose
and dose rate exposure to ionizing radiation with lung cancer? Proposed
explanations of the radon findings by means of confounders abound but I have
seen none published which was amenable to a quantitative analysis and which
could be upheld in the light of a subsequent quantitative re-analysis by
Bernard Cohen.

Regards, Rainer