Radon in spas versus homes

[FIELDRW@aol.com]

In a message dated 10/14/98 9:59:02 AM Central Daylight Time, MFORD@pantex.com
writes:

<< Since epidemiological studies in BEIR IV and elsewhere have long
 lamented the problems of confounding and the lack of reliable
 measurements in the miner studies, I would question why the
 medicinal use of radon in other countries (e.g., Russia) have not
 been considered given the fact that literally millions of people have
 been treated under a medical setting with optimal concentrations of
 950 WL over 8 to 14 day periods.  
 
 This would seem to be an ideal population to study.  If the EPA and
 the CDC were truly interested in determining the health effects of
 radon exposure, it would seem that a study of Russian
 radon-therapy patients would be the most reliable study group to
 examine.
 
 Any comments? >>


If one were interested in the effects (high dose - short term) of radon in
spas, the individuals who frequent spas would serve as a reasonable sampling
frame.  On the other hand, if one is concerned with residential radon exposure
as a causative factor in the development of lung cancer, individuals receiving
a wide range residential radon exposure provides a more representative
sampling frame.  

Also, if you are looking at the potential lung cancer risk of "medicinal"
radon therapy, it would limit the generalizability of the findings.  In other
words, the findings would be applicable to individuals who are possibly
already ill (arthritis, poor circulation, etc.).  Many illnesses other than
lung cancer are related to smoking.  So many more of these spa users versus
non spa users may go to develop lung cancer secondary to smoking, not radon.

In addition, the study would be extremely costly because you would have to
follow the spa users 20-50 years into the future and see which ones developed
lung cancer.  You would also need a control population (non spa-exposed) that
was matched by age, sex, etc. to the "spa-exposed" population.  These studies
are generally referred to as prospective cohort studies.  They are rarely
performed because of the expense and the number of individuals that would need
to be enrolled. 

Regards, Bill Field


*************************************************8
R. William Field, Ph.D.
Department of Preventive Medicine
University of Iowa
bill-field@uiowa.edu
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