[ RadSafe ] Diesel exhaust and underground mining vs other factorsfor lung cancer

[Dlawrencenewyork]

According to the CDC:
There are about 129,900 lung cancer deaths per year in the US and 98,900 from other obstructive  pulmonary diseases from 2000-2004 attributable to cigarette smoking. 
MMWR 2008;57(45):1226-1228 

A back of the napkin calculation yields 19,400 lung cancer and 14780 other pulmonary obstruction deaths from outside sources. Without delving into the statistics one cannot attest to the exclusivity of the other causal groups. Obviously there is overlap and typically the risks from the differing hazards are multiplicative for the exposed individual.


if I my old eyes read that correctly on my iPhone screen at least.
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Best Regards,
David 

On Mar 3, 2012, at 12:11 AM, Steven Dapra <sjd at swcp.com> wrote:

> March 2
> 
>        To answer my own uncertainty, "In the United States, smoking is estimated to account for 87% of lung cancer cases (90% in men and 85% in women)."
> 
>        Eighty seven percent of 450,000 is 391,500 lung cancer deaths per year from smoking.
> 
>        The estimate quote is from Wikipedia and is sourced (fn. 23).
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lung_cancer#cite_note-Samet2-22
> 
> Steven Dapra
> 
> 
> At 09:53 PM 3/2/2012, you wrote:
>> March 2
>> 
>>        The dispute is not over whether or not radon causes cancer.  The dispute is over how much cancer is caused by radon.  The EPA estimated (in 2003) that radon causes about 21,000 lung cancer deaths per year.  This estimate was based on BEIR VI.
>> 
>> http://www.epa.gov/radon/risk_assessment.html
>> 
>>        The annual death toll from cigarette smoking is around 450,000.  (How much of that is lung cancers I do not know.)
>> 
>>        I am eagerly awaiting the JNCI paper, which will be available on the afternoon of Monday, March 5.
>> 
>> Steven Dapra
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> At 03:15 PM 3/2/2012, you wrote:
>>> Hi, Patricia.
>>> 
>>> I think you are overselling that part of a sentence.  While I haven't
>>> seen the article, I suspect what they mean is that even when the other
>>> factors are controlled statistically, risk of dying of lung cancer
>>> increases as REC exposure increase.  This does not mean that researchers
>>> are saying that silica, asbestos, non-diesel exhaust-related polycyclic
>>> aromatic
>>> hydrocarbons, respirable dust, and radon do not cause cancer, but rather
>>> their results are not explained by those other cancer causing agents.
>>> 
>>> If you did a little bit of research on your source, you would find that
>>> Journal of the National Cancer Institute, in which this paper will
>>> appear, has over 200 papers, articles, and editorials which mention
>>> radon (though most are not about radon), and a quick perusal shows
>>> almost all agree that radon can cause cancer, though there is discussion
>>> about the numbers.  The International Agency for Research on Cancer,
>>> cited as the agency that classified diesel exhaust as a probable
>>> carcinogen, also classifies radon as a carcinogen.
>>> 
>>> I suspect that when you read this entire article, it will not in fact
>>> support your position.
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
>>> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of patricia lewis
>>> Sent: Friday, March 02, 2012 11:50 AM
>>> To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
>>> Cc: Edward Calabrese; patricia lewis; Jerry Cuttler; Doug Boreham; TD
>>> Luckey
>>> Subject: [ RadSafe ] Diesel exhaust and underground mining vs other
>>> factorsfor lung cancer
>>> 
>>> http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/jotn-sse030212.php
>>> 
>>> Studies show exposure to diesel exhaust may increase lung cancer
>>> mortality
>>> (all author contact info is within the article)
>>> 
>>> SNIP: "The researchers found a statistically significantly increased
>>> risk
>>> of lung cancer with increasing REC exposure among underground workers.
>>> Some
>>> evidence of increased risk was also shown for longer-term workers above
>>> ground who were exposed to elevated levels of REC (Respirable Elemental
>>> Carbon - a surrogate of diesel exhaust exposure). Other workplace
>>> exposures
>>> such as silica, asbestos, non-diesel exhaust-related polycyclic aromatic
>>> hydrocarbons, respirable dust, and radon, had little or no effect on the
>>> findings."  Repeat: ".... and radon, had little or no effect on
>>> findings."
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Pat Lewis
>>> http://www.radonmine.com
> 
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