A question relating to the observation that radon levels are lower in the
houses of smokers: Was the measurement technique sensitive to the
concentration of the gas or the daughters?
In addition to attached particle behavior, is there a possible social
explanation: Could the smoking population to tend be more
represented by a blue collar like lifestyle, living in older draftier houses
and opening their windows more (as opposed to using air conditioning)?
My two cents worth is that, in my opinion, the LNT debate will not be
solved until there is a more comprehensive understanding of the cellular and
molecular mechanisms. Furthermore, as I stated earlier, that regardless
of LNT theory our current NRC and DOE limits to occupational workers and
members of the public are reasonable. Although the ICRP
30 dosimetry models should be brought up to date. However EPA
limits of 4 and 10 mrem are unreasonable, often difficult to assess by
measurement and are very expensive, especially when n-fold conservatism is
folded into the computer models.
Brian Keele