RE: Radon, smoking and LNT

[epirad@mchsi.com]

Kjell,



I can not speak for others, but when I talk about the lung cancer health posed 

by radon exposure, I primarily mean the health risk from the solid radon 

progeny.



I have seen two studies that report that what you mentioned, but the studies 

were funded by tobacco companies. I think it was Philip Morris.  There are also 

other studies that suggest that smokers have greater mucous secretions that 

attenuate the radon progeny alpha particle dose to the lung.  We also have the 

polonium-210 dose to the lungs from the cigarettes to consider. 



If I were to try to make a case that light smoking reduces the risk of radon 

exposure, I would make it on the basis that the low temperatures that tobacco 

burns at generates 100 to 300 nanometer particles. Radon decay products attach 

to these larger cigarette generated particles and therefore have a much lower 

lung deposition efficiency.  A similar effect can be seen with a gas stove in 

the home that generates 20 nanometer particles. 



In any case, the important issue is adequately adjusting for the smoking 

induced lung cancers.  About 85% of the lung cancers are attributable to 

smoking, so control of that variable is essential in an ecologic study.  It is 

very difficult to adequately control for the smoking using surrogate county 

smoking rates that do not factor in duration of smoking or intensity of 

smoking.  The poor control of county smoking rates is the most likely 

explanation of why the inverse association is also seen for other smoking 

related cancers as pointed out by Dr. Puskin.



Bill Field

> I am neither a statistician nor an epidemiologist. But, I find this debate of 

> interest having seen LNT go from a working, conservative hypothesis to be 

> applied in judgments for addressing radiation safety questions to what, now in 

> some circles, having taken on the aura of a religious truth.  So, if you don't 

> mind, I've got a couple of thoughts which have crossed my mind while following 

> this important debate.  (I must say that I find this debate going on at a bit 

> more higher level than the one concerning the formation of oceanic manganese 

> nodules which raged on from the late 1800s to the discovery of deep-ocean vents 

> spewing large amounts of Mn into the ocean in the '70s and 80s.  Many mea culpas 

> were offered for the remarks aimed at those who had proposed such an origin for 

> Mn based on conclusions drawn from field data before the discovery of these deep 

> ocean vents or "smokers" as they are called by oceanographers.)

> 

> 1.  When we refer to radon with regard to lung cancer, are we saying that it is 

> radon alone that is of concern or are we using it as a surrogate for radon plus 

> its decay products?  (I assume the latter but want to make sure.)

> 

> 2.  At an HPS annual meeting some years ago (it may have been the late "80s), 

> someone delivered a paper stating that light amounts of smoking stimulated the  

> cilia of the air passage thereby providing some benefit for clearing pollutants 

> from the lungs.  

> 

> If the answer to #1 above is that radon is short-hand for radon + radon 

> daughters, and, it is true that light cigarette smoking does facilitate the 

> removal of pollutants ( in this case think radon daughters attached to air 

> particulates) perhaps, light cigarette smoking would have a positive benefit for 

> diminishing radon daughter exposures and may account for the shape of Bernie 

> Cohen's lung cancer - radon curve.    

> 

> Kjell Johansen, PhD

> Sr. Chemist-Environmental

> Point Beach Nuclear Plant

> Two Rivers, WI 54241

> kjell.johansen@nmcco.com

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