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Source of cancer data



Dr. Cohen,

Besides the SEER data, the following may of use.

http://www.dceg.cancer.gov/cgi-bin/atlas/ca-type?site=lun It appears to

provide more detailed information.



-- John 



John Jacobus, MS

Certified Health Physicist 

3050 Traymore Lane

Bowie, MD  20715-2024



E-mail:  jenday1@email.msn.com (H)      



-----Original Message-----

From: BERNARD L COHEN [mailto:blc+@PITT.EDU]

Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2001 11:47 AM

To: John Williams

Cc: internet RADSAFE

Subject: Re: Re: Risks of low level radiation - New Scientist Article

. . . 





>  The

> inverse association disappeared when they used better SEER data.



	--If the SEER data is better, I would like to know why. I

could not use SEER data because my study covered all states and Seer data

is not available for all states



   If

> epidemiologists are too believe your findings for the whole country,

> they should hold for a state with the highest radon, finest gradation

> of ecologic units (1/16 of the total units you use)and Iowa only has

> 1% of the U.S. population.



	--If there is something you don't "believe" about my findings,

please tell me what specifically. Or better still, submit a letter to the

Editor about it.



> The only answer I saw that you gave was

> that there must be some minority population causing Smith et al

> findings.  I do not find it plausible given the lack of a large

> ethnic minority population in Iowa.  Don't say you can explain it for

> any geographic region when you failed to respond to Field's challenge.



	--I did not say anything like that. I said that there are problems

with data for a single state that are smoothed over when considering the

nation as a whole. I believe I gave several potential examples, including

the one you mention. A few other examples are statistical variations,

correlations between medical facilities and radon levels, correlations

between radon levels and other causes of lung cancer or other factors that

influence lung cancer rates, etc. If you would read my papers, you would

see that there is substantial variation in lung cancer vs radon

regressions in the various states, presumably due to such factors. But if

you average the results for the various states, the result is similar to

that for the nation as a whole.

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