[ RadSafe ] Residential radon risk

[Bernard Cohen]

John Jacobus wrote:

>I was under the impression that the physiology of
>smoking resulted in a build up of muscus in the
>bronchi, etc. that "protected" the cells from the
>radon progeny emissions.  Does that sound reasonable?
>
    ---This is irrelevant to the observed fact that smokers are exposed 
to slightly less radon, on average, than non-smokers. But to respond 
directly, smokers have far fewer cilia that normally expel radon 
daughters from the bronchial region so one would think they get much 
higher radiation exposure from a given radon inhalation, but this was 
found not to be the case. This is explained by the increased mucus flow 
in smokers largely makeing up for the missing cilia.

>
>--- Kai Kaletsch <eic at shaw.ca> wrote:
>  
>
>>Jerry asked: "Given the apparent negative
>>correlation between smoking and 
>>radon levels, I wonder
>>whether it is low radon levels that cause people to
>>smoke, or does smoking 
>>somehow
>>cause lower radon levels? "
>>
>>I think it is likely that smoking causes lower radon
>>levels, because smokers 
>>would open a window to let some fresh air in.
>>
>>We have to remember that residential radon levels
>>are, in part, determined 
>>by the residents' lifestyle. So, one could also
>>expect that being sick 
>>increases radon levels. (Sick people might not lead
>>as active lives and 
>>doors will stay closed.)
>>
>>Since residential radon levels are related to
>>ventilation, one would also 
>>expect that they correlate positively with mould and
>>other indoor 
>>pollutants.
>>
>>In the ecological studies, these factors probably
>>largely cancel out and the 
>>average county radon levels are more related to the
>>radon source term. Case 
>>control studies would be very susceptible to the
>>influence of these other 
>>factors, unless these are specifically controlled.
>>
>>
>>    
>>
>
>+++++++++++++++++++
>"Embarrassed, obscure and feeble sentences are generally, if not always, the result of embarrassed, obscure and feeble thought."
>Hugh Blair, 1783
>
>-- John
>John Jacobus, MS
>Certified Health Physicist
>e-mail:  crispy_bird at yahoo.com
>
>
>		
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