Radon and lung cancer discussed at Radon Detector Store.com

What evidence idicates that radon causes cancer? Since there have been so many radon studies in the U.S. and Europe, more is known about the health risk of radon exposure than almost any other human carcinogen. An Iowa study funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences compared radon in Iowa homes and women getting lung cancer. Of the women taking part, 413 of them had lung cancer and 614 did not have lung cancer. Testing for radon in the homes and comparing those who had lung cancer with those who did not seemed to show that cumulative radon exposure is a significant risk factor for lung cancer in women. (see information about the radon/lung cancer study at www.chec.uiowa.edu/misc/radon.html)

The University Of Iowa College Of Public Health recently compiled a bibliography of radon epidemiology research that included extensive studies of thousands of miners, carried out over more than 50 years worldwide that have consistently shown an increase in lung cancer occurrence with exposure to radon. Back

Why does radon cause lung cancer? Radon in the air is inhaled along with oxygen as we breathe. Since it is the heaviest known gas, it lodges in the lungs if it decays into one of its highly radioactive decay products (polonium, lead, and bismuth). These elements also form as radon decays in the air. These particles will cling to dust, smoke, or any other particles in the air. We will naturally inhale these radioactive elements along with air when we breathe. These particles which will continue their decay will stay lodged in the lungs for years releasing energetic alpha and beta particles that may damage the DNA in the tissue. This may cause the tissue to form a rapidly growing tumor (risk multiplied several fold if one smokes) which may develop into one of many different types of cancer in the lungs.

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Facts about Lung Cancer (EPA)

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.
Lung cancer kills more Americans each year than breast, prostate and colorectal cancers combined.
Lung cancer kills more women each year than breast cancer.
Lung cancer kills 85% of newly diagnosed patients within five years.
Approximately 50% of the people diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoked or are former smokers.
Lung cancer gets few of the research dollars because of the perception it is self-inflicted by smoking. Back

What about the victims? Many of the victims have expressed frustration that they were never told about the seriousness of radon exposure and how easy it would have been to test for radon and to mitigate it.

According to newly revised risk assessments for radon exposure, approximately 315,000 Americans (over the last 15 years) were victims of radon-induced lung cancer. Since public ignorance about radon generally prevents them from ever making a connection to their radon exposure, the non-smokers generally assume it was simply an unfortunate case of bad luck. Back Back to Radon Info Page

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