Re: radon - documentation of exposure histories for Iowa study

[hflong@postoffice.pacbell.net]

 "Association". So  431 cases of lung cancer (86% smokers, therefore only 58 non-smokers) had more radon in their homes than "controls", (only 32% of

whom smoked). "Adjustment" statistically, is to replace data from truly matched "controls"?! Why bother with double-blind placebo tests, with such

great effort to truly match controls?



And that presumption was in the 1% exception in a nationwide study with 100,000 deaths from lung cancer not showing INVERSE association with home

radon. You infer to the total population of the USA from a selected, 1% outlier (which could have had silo poisoning or other unknown

common to both smokers and radon level)?



 Why not properly control, with all smokers or all non-smokers, instead of trusting in select statistical "adjustment"? "Difficult" - an admission of

numbers too small to properly match controls - as in the NSWS with >4,000 cancer deaths, that showed  25% better cancer resistance with >.5 rem than

<.1 rem (according to its TAC member, John Cameron).



Howard Long



Rad health wrote:



> Jim Muckerheide,

>

> Ray Johnson may not be an epidemiologist, but the point was that Ray knows a

> few things about radon exposure assessment.  As far as Phillipe Dupont, he

> is a frequent poster of emails on your Radiation and Science listserv and an

> known anti LNT proponent.

>

> If the Iowa study did not find an association, then they may have said the

> power was insufficient to detect an association as is likely the case in

> many studies with poor exposure ascertainment.  But, the Iowa study did find

> an association so therefore the sample size was of sufficient power to

> detect an association.

>

> I saw your "explanation" given to Les.  It was nonsensical to me as it

> apparently was to Les.  As far as your misrepresentations, I am not sure

> where to start.  The latest item you have tried to mislead people with is

> that the Iowa Study did not obtain individual exposure histories for each

> subject. Your insistence is that because someone lives in Iowa, that have to

> be exposed to high radon levels.  As Les, pointed out.  In the Iowa study

> half, the people in the study were exposed to less than 4 pCi/L (average

> 15--year exposure).  Their exposure data was log normally distributed (that

> means they had a lot of data for lower exposed individuals).

>

> The Iowa study did an incredible job documenting individual exposure

> including many supporting papers as Les has pointed out to me.  On one hand

> we have your misrepresentation and on the other hand we have these detailed

> papers below laying out how they accounted for radon exposure.

>

> ------------------------------------------

> Citation: Field RW, Smith BJ, Brus CP, Lynch CF, Neuberger JS, Steck DJ,

> Retrospective temporal and spatial mobility of adult Iowa women., Risk Anal

> 18: 5, 575-84, Oct, 1998.

>

> Abstract

> Human exposure assessments require a linkage between toxicant concentrations

> in occupied spaces and the receptor's mobility pattern. Databases reporting

> distinct populations' mobility in various parts of the home, time outside

> the home, and time in another building are scarce. Temporal longitudinal

> trends in these mobility patterns for specific age and gender groups are

> nonexistent. This paper describes subgroup trends in the spatial and

> temporal mobility patterns within the home, outside the home, and in another

> building for 619 Iowa females that occupied the same home for at least 20

> years. The study found that the mean time spent at home for the participants

> ranged from a low of 69.4% for the 50-59 year age group to a high of 81.6%

> for the over 80-year-old age group. Participants who lived in either one- or

> two- story homes with basements spent the majority of their residential

> occupancy on the first story. Trends across age varied for other subgroups

> by number of children, education, and urban/rural status. Since all of these

> trends were nonlinear, they indicate that error exists when assuming a

> constant, such as a 75% home occupancy factor, which has been advocated by

> some researchers and agencies. In addition, while aggregate data, such as

> presented in this report, are more helpful in deriving risk estimates for

> population subgroups, they cannot supplant good individual-level data for

> determining risks.

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------

>

> Medline ID: 21270976

>

> Citation: Field RW, Steck DJ, Smith BJ, Brus CP, Fisher EF, Neuberger JS,

> Lynch CF, The Iowa radon lung cancer study--phase I: Residential radon gas

> exposure and lung cancer., Sci Total Environ 272: 1-3, 67-72, May14, 2001.

>

> Abstract

> Exposure to high concentrations of radon (222Rn) progeny produces lung

> cancer in both underground miners and experimentally-exposed laboratory

> animals. The goal of the study was to determine whether or not residential

> radon exposure exhibits a statistically significant association with lung

> cancer in a state with high residential radon concentrations. A

> population-based, case-control epidemiologic study was conducted examining

> the relationship between residential radon gas exposure and lung cancer in

> Iowa females who occupied their current home for at least 20 years. The

> study included 413 incident lung cancer cases and 614 age-frequency-matched

> controls. Participant information was obtained by a mailed-out questionnaire

> with face-to-face follow-up. Radon dosimetry assessment consisted of five

> components: (1) on-site residential assessment survey; (2) on-site radon

> measurements; (3) regional outdoor radon measurements; (4) assessment of

> subjects' exposure when in another building; and (5) linkage of historic

> subject mobility with residential, outdoor, and other building radon

> concentrations. Histologic review was performed for 96% of the cases.

> Approximately 60% of the basement radon concentrations and 30% of the first

> floor radon concentrations of study participants' homes exceeded the US

> Environmental Protection Agency action level of 150 Bq m(-3) (4 pCi l(-1)).

> Large areas of western Iowa had outdoor radon concentrations comparable to

> the national average indoor value of 55 Bq m(-3) (1.5 pCi l(-1)). Excess

> odds of 0.24 (95% CI = -0.05-0.92) and 0.49 (95% CI = 0.03-1.84) per 11

> WLM(5-19) were calculated using the continuous radon exposure estimates for

> all cases and live cases, respectively. Slightly higher excess odds of 0.50

> (95% CI = 0.004-1.80) and 0.83 (CI = 0.11-3.34) per 11 WLM(5-19) were noted

> for the categorical radon exposure estimates for all cases and the live

> cases. A positive association between cumulative radon gas exposure and lung

> cancer was demonstrated using both categorical and continuous analyses. The

> risk estimates obtained in this study indicate that cumulative radon

> exposure presents an important environmental health hazard.

>

> ----------------------------------------------------------------

>   Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 107, Number 11, November 1999

>

> Intercomparison of Retrospective Radon Detectors

> R. William Field,1 Daniel J. Steck,2 Mary Ann Parkhurst,3 Judy A. Mahaffey,3

> and Michael C.R. Alavanja4

>

> 1Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, University of Iowa,

> Iowa City, Iowa, USA

> 2Physics Department, St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota, USA

> 3Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, USA

> 4National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

>

> Abstract

> We performed both a laboratory and a field intercomparison of two novel

> glass-based retrospective radon detectors previously used in major radon

> case-control studies performed in Missouri and Iowa. The new detectors

> estimate retrospective residential radon exposure from the accumulation of a

> long-lived radon decay product, 210Pb, in glass. The detectors use track

> registration material in direct contact with glass surfaces to measure the

> -emission of a 210Pb-decay product, 210Po. The detector's track density

> generation rate (tracks per square centimeter per hour) is proportional to

> the surface -activity. In the absence of other strong sources of -emission

> in the glass, the implanted surface -activity should be proportional to the

> accumulated 210Po, and hence to the cumulative radon gas exposure. The goals

> of the intercomparison were to a) perform collocated measurements using two

> different glass-based retrospective radon detectors in a controlled

> laboratory environment to compare their relative response to implanted

> polonium in the absence of environmental variation, b) perform collocated

> measurements using two different retrospective radon progeny detectors in a

> variety of residential settings to compare their detection of

> glass-implanted polonium activities, and c) examine the correlation between

> track density rates and contemporary radon gas concentrations. The

> laboratory results suggested that the materials and methods used by the

> studies produced similar track densities in detectors exposed to the same

> implanted 210Po activity. The field phase of the intercomparison found

> excellent agreement between the track density rates for the two types of

> retrospective detectors. The correlation between the track density rates and

> direct contemporary radon concentration measurements was relatively high,

> considering that no adjustments were performed to account for either the

> residential depositional environment or glass surface type. Preliminary

> comparisons of the models used to translate track rate densities to average

> long-term radon concentrations differ between the two studies. Further

> calibration of the retrospective detectors' models for interpretation of

> track rate density may allow the pooling of studies that use glass-based

> retrospective radon detectors to determine historic residential radon

> exposures. Key words: case-control studies, dose-response relationship

> (radiation), epidemiologic methods, epidemiologic studies, lung neoplasms,

> radon, radon progeny, smoking. Environ Health Perspect 107:905-910 (1999).

> [Online 15 October 1999]

> http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1999/107p905-910field/abstract.html

> Address correspondence to R.W. Field, College of Public Health, Department

> of Epidemiology, N222 Oakdale Hall, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242

> USA. Telephone: (319) 335-4413. Fax: (319) 335-4747. E-mail:

> bill-field@uiowa.edu

> We thank J. Huber, C. Greaves, G. Buckner, J. Jesse, and E. Berger for their

> assistance with data collection. We also thank C. Lynch and J. Lubin for

> their reviews of previous versions of this manuscript.

>

> NCI contract 263-MQ-820009 and NIEHS grant P30 ESO5605 supported this

> research. This report is solely the responsibility of the authors and does

> not necessarily reflect the official views of the NCI, NIEHS, or NIH.

>

> ----------------------------------------------------------------

> Medline ID: 99122934

>

> Citation: Steck DJ, Field RW, Lynch CF, Exposure to atmospheric radon.,

> Environ Health Perspect 107: 2, 123-7, Feb, 1999.

> Address: Department of Physics

>

> Abstract

> We measured radon (222Rn) concentrations in Iowa and Minnesota and found

> that unusually high annual average radon concentrations occur outdoors in

> portions of central North America. In some areas, outdoor concentrations

> exceed the national average indoor radon concentration. The general spatial

> patterns of outdoor radon and indoor radon are similar to the spatial

> distribution of radon progeny in the soil. Outdoor radon exposure in this

> region can be a substantial fraction of an individual's total radon exposure

> and is highly variable across the population. Estimated lifetime effective

> dose equivalents for the women participants in a radon-related lung cancer

> study varied by a factor of two at the median dose, 8 mSv, and ranged up to

> 60 mSv (6 rem). Failure to include these doses can reduce the statistical

> power of epidemiologic studies that examine the lung cancer risk associated

> with residential radon exposure.

> -----------------------------------

>

> Medline ID: 99005221

> Citation: Fisher EL, Field RW, Smith BJ, Lynch CF, Steck DJ, Neuberger JS,

> Spatial variation of residential radon concentrations: the Iowa Radon Lung

> Cancer Study., Health Phys 75: 5, 506-13, Nov, 1998.

>

> Abstract

> Homeowners and researchers frequently estimate the radon concentrations in

> various areas of the home from a single radon measurement often performed in

> the home's basement. This study describes the spatial variation of radon

> concentrations both between floors and between rooms on the same floor. The

> geometric mean basement and first floor radon concentrations for one-story

> homes were 13.8% and 9.0% higher, respectively, as compared to their

> counterparts in two-story homes. The median first floor/basement ratio of

> radon concentrations for one-story homes was 0.60. The median ratios between

> first floor/basement and second floor/basement for two-story homes were 0.51

> and 0.62, respectively. The mean coefficient of variation for detectors

> placed on the same floor was 9.5%, which was only 2.6% higher than the mean

> coefficient of variation found for collocated (duplicate) quality control

> detectors. The wide individual variations noted in radon concentrations

> serve as a reminder of the importance of performing multiple radon

> measurements in various parts of the home when estimating home radon

> concentrations.

>

> -------------------------------------------------------

> Field, R.W., Lynch, C.F., Steck, D.J. and Fisher, E.F.. Dosimetry Quality

> assurance: the Iowa residential radon lung cancer study. Radiation

> Protection Dosimetry. 78(4): 295-303, 1998

>

> -----------------------------------------------

> Medline ID: 96384408

> Citation: Field RW, Steck DJ, Lynch CF, Brus CP, Neuberger JS, Kross BC,

> Residential radon-222 exposure and lung cancer: exposure assessment

> methodology., J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol 6: 2, 181-95, Apr-Jun, 1996.

>

> Abstract

> Although occupational epidemiological studies and animal experimentation

> provide strong evidence that radon-222 (222Rn) progeny exposure causes lung

> cancer, residential epidemiological studies have not confirmed this

> association. Past residential epidemiological studies have yielded

> contradictory findings. Exposure misclassification has seriously compromised

> the ability of these studies to detect whether an association exists between

> 222Rn exposure and lung cancer. Misclassification of 222Rn exposure has

> arisen primarily from: 1) detector measurement error; 2) failure to consider

> temporal and spatial 222Rn variations within a home; 3) missing data from

> previously occupied homes that currently are inaccessible; 4) failure to

> link 222Rn concentrations with subject mobility; and 5) measuring 222Rn gas

> concentration as a surrogate for 222Rn progeny exposure. This paper examines

> these methodological dosimetry problems and addresses how we are accounting

> for them in an ongoing, population-based, case-control study of 222Rn and

> lung cancer in Iowa.

>

> --------------------------------------------

>

> Medline ID: 20329535

> Citation: Field RW, Steck DJ, Smith BJ, Brus CP, Fisher EL, Neuberger JS,

> Platz CE, Robinson RA, Woolson RF, Lynch CF, Residential radon gas exposure

> and lung cancer: the Iowa Radon Lung Cancer Study., Am J Epidemiol 151: 11,

> 1091-102, Jun1, 2000.

>

> Abstract

> Exposure to high concentrations of radon progeny (radon) produces lung

> cancer in both underground miners and experimentally exposed laboratory

> animals. To determine the risk posed by residential radon exposure, the

> authors performed a population-based, case-control epidemiologic study in

> Iowa from 1993 to 1997. Subjects were female Iowa residents who had occupied

> their current home for at least 20 years. A total of 413 lung cancer cases

> and 614 age-frequency-matched controls were included in the final analysis.

> Excess odds were calculated per 11 working-level months for exposures that

> occurred 5-19 years (WLM(5-19)) prior to diagnosis for cases or prior to

> time of interview for controls. Eleven WLM(5-19) is approximately equal to

> an average residential radon exposure of 4 pCl/liter (148 Bq/m3) during this

> period. After adjustment for age, smoking, and education, the authors found

> excess odds of 0.50 (95% confidence interval: 0.004, 1.81) and 0.83 (95%

> percent confidence interval: 0.11, 3.34) using categorical radon exposure

> estimates for all cases and for live cases, respectively. Slightly lower

> excess odds of 0.24 (95 percent confidence interval: -0.05, 0.92) and 0.49

> (95 percent confidence interval: 0.03, 1.84) per 11 WLM(5-19) were noted for

> continuous radon exposure estimates for all subjects and live subjects only.

> The observed risk estimates suggest that cumulative ambient radon exposure

> presents an important environmental health hazard.

>

> Don Smith

>

> ----------------------------------------------

> >From: "Jim Muckerheide" <jmuckerheide@cnts.wpi.edu>

> >To: "Rad health" <healthrad@hotmail.com>, <lescrable@hotmail.com>,

> ><jkotton@usgs.gov>

> >CC: <radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu>

> >Subject: RE: radon - and tackling the issues

> >Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 04:11:47 -0500

> >

> You haven't read, or perhaps understood, the problem. See the

> explanation provided to Les. If you think something is "misleading," let me

> know. It's just my take on the failure of radon case-control studies.

>

> And why Iowa is the worst place, despite Field's efforts to relate a

> lifetime of radon exposure to house measurements. It just can't work,

> and the study is too small to produce a credible, replicable result.

>

> Ray's a great guy, but his forte is HP training, and communication. If

> you want an expert on radon health effects try Philippe Duport at U

> Ottawa, with 40 years originally focused on the French miners and the

> industry, then to Canada, as a regulator, and nor at the university. No

> adverse radon effects at low-dose, low dose-rate, at much higher than

>

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