[ RadSafe ] Residential radon risk
niton at mchsi.com
niton at mchsi.com
Fri May 20 06:23:43 CEST 2005
Dr. Raabbe,
Just for the record, I offer a SINGLE post on this topic. It appears no one
else on the list will refute these baseless assertions (most likely for fear of
being flamed).
Regarding your recent series of posts on the risk of residential radon
exposure, I have listed a few papers that conflict with your assertions on this
topic.
I have published papers such as the one at this link that demonstrates that
residential radon studies in general underestimated the risk posed by prolonged
residential radon exposure, see:
http://www.aarst.org/news_pdf/2002_IowaU_Follow-up_Study.pdf
Radon has many factors that reduce its risk perception, see introduction in
this paper:
Radiat Prot Dosimetry. 2005;113(2):214-7.
Three Mile Island epidemiologic radiation dose assessment revisited: 25 years
after the accident.
Field RW.
Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Department of
Epidemiology, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
52242, USA. bill-field at uiowa.edu
Over the past 25 years, public health concerns following the Three Mile Island
(TMI) accident prompted several epidemiologic investigations in the vicinity of
TMI. One of these studies is ongoing. This commentary suggests that the major
source of radiation exposure to the population has been ignored as a potential
confounding factor or effect modifying factor in previous and ongoing TMI
epidemiologic studies that explore whether or not TMI accidental plant
radiation releases caused an increase in lung cancer in the community around
TMI. The commentary also documents the observation that the counties around TMI
have the highest regional radon potential in the United States and concludes
that radon progeny exposure should be included as part of the overall radiation
dose assessment in future studies of radiation-induced lung cancer resulting
from the TMI accident.
Direct studies of residentially exposed individuals support the risk
projections from miners.
http://www.cheec.uiowa.edu/misc/radon.html
http://radsci1.home.mchsi.com/irlcs.pdf
Other papers -
Epidemiology. 2005 Mar;16(2):137-45.
Residential radon and risk of lung cancer: a combined analysis of 7 North
American case-control studies.
Krewski D, Lubin JH, Zielinski JM, Alavanja M, Catalan VS, Field RW, Klotz JB,
Letourneau EG, Lynch CF, Lyon JI, Sandler DP, Schoenberg JB, Steck DJ, Stolwijk
JA, Weinberg C, Wilcox HB.
McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, University of Ottawa,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. dkrewski at uottawa.ca
BACKGROUND: Underground miners exposed to high levels of radon have an excess
risk of lung cancer. Residential exposure to radon is at much lower levels, and
the risk of lung cancer with residential exposure is less clear. We conducted a
systematic analysis of pooled data from all North American residential radon
studies. METHODS: The pooling project included original data from 7 North
American case-control studies, all of which used long-term alpha-track
detectors to assess residential radon concentrations. A total of 3662 cases and
4966 controls were retained for the analysis. We used conditional likelihood
regression to estimate the excess risk of lung cancer. RESULTS: Odds ratios
(ORs) for lung cancer increased with residential radon concentration. The
estimated OR after exposure to radon at a concentration of 100 Bq/m3 in the
exposure time window 5 to 30 years before the index date was 1.11 (95%
confidence interval = 1.00-1.28). This estimate is compatible with the estimate
of 1.12 (1.02-1.25) predicted by downward extrapolation of the miner data.
There was no evidence of heterogeneity of radon effects across studies. There
was no apparent heterogeneity in the association by sex, educational level,
type of respondent (proxy or self), or cigarette smoking, although there was
some evidence of a decreasing radon-associated lung cancer risk with age.
Analyses restricted to subsets of the data with presumed more accurate radon
dosimetry resulted in increased estimates of risk. CONCLUSIONS: These results
provide direct evidence of an association between residential radon and lung
cancer risk, a finding predicted using miner data and consistent with results
from animal and in vitro studies.
-------------------------------------------------
BMJ. 2005 Jan 29;330(7485):223. Epub 2004 Dec 21.
Radon in homes and risk of lung cancer: collaborative analysis of individual
data from 13 European case-control studies.
Darby S, Hill D, Auvinen A, Barros-Dios JM, Baysson H, Bochicchio F, Deo H,
Falk R, Forastiere F, Hakama M, Heid I, Kreienbrock L, Kreuzer M, Lagarde F,
Makelainen I, Muirhead C, Oberaigner W, Pershagen G, Ruano-Ravina A,
Ruosteenoja E, Rosario AS, Tirmarche M, Tomasek L, Whitley E, Wichmann HE, Doll
R.
Clinical Trials Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit, Radcliffe
Infirmary, Oxford OX2 6HE. sarah.darby at ctsu.ox.ac.uk
OBJECTIVE: To determine the risk of lung cancer associated with exposure at
home to the radioactive disintegration products of naturally occurring radon
gas. DESIGN: Collaborative analysis of individual data from 13 case-control
studies of residential radon and lung cancer. SETTING: Nine European countries.
SUBJECTS: 7148 cases of lung cancer and 14,208 controls. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
Relative risks of lung cancer and radon gas concentrations in homes inhabited
during the previous 5-34 years measured in becquerels (radon disintegrations
per second) per cubic metre (Bq/m3) of household air. RESULTS: The mean
measured radon concentration in homes of people in the control group was 97
Bq/m3, with 11% measuring > 200 and 4% measuring > 400 Bq/m3. For cases of lung
cancer the mean concentration was 104 Bq/m3. The risk of lung cancer increased
by 8.4% (95% confidence interval 3.0% to 15.8%) per 100 Bq/m3 increase in
measured radon (P = 0.0007). This corresponds to an increase of 16% (5% to 31%)
per 100 Bq/m3 increase in usual radon--that is, after correction for the
dilution caused by random uncertainties in measuring radon concentrations. The
dose-response relation seemed to be linear with no threshold and remained
significant (P = 0.04) in analyses limited to individuals from homes with
measured radon < 200 Bq/m3. The proportionate excess risk did not differ
significantly with study, age, sex, or smoking. In the absence of other causes
of death, the absolute risks of lung cancer by age 75 years at usual radon
concentrations of 0, 100, and 400 Bq/m3 would be about 0.4%, 0.5%, and 0.7%,
respectively, for lifelong non-smokers, and about 25 times greater (10%, 12%,
and 16%) for cigarette smokers. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, though not
separately, these studies show appreciable hazards from residential radon,
particularly for smokers and recent ex-smokers, and indicate that it is
responsible for about 2% of all deaths from cancer in Europe.
----------------------------------------
Smoking as a confounder in ecologic correlations of cancer mortality rates with
average county radon levels.
Puskin JS.
Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, U.S. EPA, Washington, DC 20460, USA.
puskin.jerome at epa.gov
Cohen has reported a negative correlation between lung cancer mortality and
average radon levels by county. In this paper, the correlation of U.S. county
mortality rates for various types of cancers during the period 1970-1994 with
Cohen's radon measurements is examined. In general, quantitatively similar,
strongly negative correlations are found for cancers strongly linked to
cigarette smoking, weaker negative correlations are found for cancers
moderately increased by smoking, whereas no such correlation is found for
cancers not linked to smoking. The results indicate that the negative trend
previously reported for lung cancer can be largely accounted for by a negative
correlation between smoking and radon levels across counties. Hence, the
observed ecological correlation provides no substantial evidence for a
protective effect of low level radon exposure.
See also NCRP article on this topic.
-----------------------------------------------------
Radon induced cancer is responsible for a greater number of cancers than all
causes for many other cancer types (e.g. brain, bone, pancreas, melanoma, etc.)
It is a public health disservice to minimize the risk posed by residential
radon. I receive numerous calls each month from people who have never smoked
and have developed lung cancer. In many cases, subsequent testing reveals
elevated radon concentrations.
I urge the Health Physics community to take a more active role in promoting
radon health risk education and testing.
Sincerely,
Bill Field
R. William Field, M.S, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
College of Public Health
Department of Occupational and Environmental Health
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242
319-335-4413
bill-field at uiowa.edu
http://myprofile.cos.com/Fieldrw
> May 18, 2005
>
> Nearly all lung cancer (90 to 95% depending on the source of information)
> is associated with tobacco smoke. This is a matter of documented fact that
> is well known. Ending smoking will have a fantastic beneficial impact on
> health.
>
> That radon in homes causes any lung cancer is purely hypothetical unless
> the lifetime dose to the bronchial epithelium exceeds 10 Sv. The EPA model
> for cancer from radon in homes is an unproved model.
>
> Otto
> >
>
> **********************************************
> Prof. Otto G. Raabe, Ph.D., CHP
> Center for Health & the Environment
> (Street Address: Bldg. 3792, Old Davis Road)
> University of California, Davis, CA 95616
> E-Mail: ograabe at ucdavis.edu
> Phone: (530) 752-7754 FAX: (530) 758-6140
> ***********************************************
>
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