Documents radon 17 results

"The health effects of radiation have been a focus for research since early in the 20th century. As the century ends, extensive experimental and epidemiologic evidence has been accumulated that addresses the adverse consequences of radiation exposure; epidemiologic studies of radiation-exposed groups from the general population and specific occupational groups provide quantitative estimates of the cancer risks associated with exposure. This report provides a perspective on the extensive epidemiologic evidence on the health effects of ionizing radiation and on likely needs for further epidemiologic research on radiation and health. Epidemiologic studies have proved informative on the quantitative risks of radiation-caused cancer but we now face the challenges of more precisely characterizing risks at lower levels of exposure and also of assessing modifiers of the risks, including dose rate, genetic susceptibility, and other environmental exposures. This report considers investigative approaches, such as pooled analysis of multiple data sets, that can be used to address these complex questions and the limitations of these approaches for addressing societal concerns about the risks of radiation exposure."

"Ionizing radiation long has been recognized as a cause of cancer. Among environmental cancer risks, radiation is unique in the variety of organs and tissues that it can affect. Numerous epidemiological studies with good dosimetry provide the basis for cancer risk estimation, including quantitative information derived from observed dose-response relationships. The amount of cancer attributable to ionizing radiation is difficult to estimate, but numbers such as 1 to 3% have been suggested. Some radiation-induced cancers attributable to naturally occurring exposures, such as cosmic and terrestrial radiation, are not preventable. The major natural radiation exposure, radon, can often be reduced, especially in the home, but not entirely eliminated. Medical use of radiation constitutes the other main category of exposure; because of the importance of its benefits to one's health, the appropriate prevention strategy is to simply work to minimize exposures."

"Epidemiologic evidence on the relation between occupational and environmental radiation and cancer is reviewed. Studies of pioneering radiation workers, underground miners, and radium dial painters revealed excess cancer deaths and contributed to the setting of radiation protection standards and to theories of carcinogenesis. Occupational exposures today are generally much lower than in the past, thus any associated increases in cancer will be difficult to detect. Pooling investigations of these more recently exposed workers, however, has the potential to validate current estimates of risk used in radiation protection. New information on the effects of chronic radiation exposure also may come from studies in the former Soviet Union of Chernobyl clean-up workers and of workers at the Mayak nuclear facilities. Studies of environmental radiation exposures, other than radon, are largely inconclusive, due mainly to the difficulties in detecting the low risks associated with low dose exposures. Thyroid cancer, however, has been linked to environmental radiation from the Chernobyl accident and from nuclear weapons tests. Low-level radiation released during normal operations at nuclear plants has not been found to increase cancer rates in surrounding populations. Radon, a human carcinogen, is the most ubiquitous exposure to human populations; remediating high residential-radon levels is recommended, recognizing that the exposure can never be removed completely because it occurs naturally."

"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. "

Background The oncogene product EGF-receptor (EGF-R), the tumor suppressor gene product p53, and anti-p53 antibodies are detectable in serum of certain cancer patients. Increased levels of some of these products were reported in lung cancer patients after occupational asbestos exposure, after exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or vinyl chloride. This molecular epidemiological study investigated the use of serum EGF-R, p53-protein, and anti-p53 antibodies as biomarkers for detection of effects of radon and its decay products. Methods Serum EGF-R, p53-protein, and anti-53 antibodies were measured using ELISA in former uranium miners of SDAG Wismut without lung disease (n=106) and miners with Schneeberg lung cancer (n=22). They were compared with healthy subjects (n=23), patients with lung cancer not due to ionizing radiation (n=88), and patients with non-malignant lung or pleural diseases (n=50). Results No significantly elevated or decreased serum values for p53 protein, EGF-R, or anti-p53 antibodies could be found. There was no correlation of these with Working Level Months (WLM). Conclusions p53 protein, EGF-R, or anti-p53 antibodies in serum are not useful as biomarkers for detection of lung cancer related to ionizing radiation (i.e., Schneeberg lung cancer).

Background Occupational, environmental, or experimental exposure of people, animals, and cell cultures to radon has been the subject of numerous studies. The present study comprised 120 miners, occupationally exposed to radon and heavy metals in a Pb-Zn mine; 57 female subjects environmentally exposed (control group 1); and 100 subjects from the urban population (control group 2). Methods Radon measurements were performed, and the effective equivalent radiation doses over a 2-year period were calculated. The following end points were studied: conventional analysis of structural chromosomal aberrations, micronuclei, and sister chromatid exchanges (SCE). Results The mean values of the percentage of structural chromosomal aberration frequency were 4.09% in miners, 1.43% in control group 1, and 1.88% in control group 2. The difference in frequencies was statistically significant (AV/FP 0.000). The frequency of micronuclei was 13.00 ? 3.54 per 500 CB cells in miners and 6.4 ? 2.11 per 500 CB cells in control subjects (AV/FP 0.000). The frequency of SCE was 7.97 per cell in miners (range 6.2-13.1) and 6.17 and 6.63 for the two control groups, respectively (AV/FP 0.000). Conclusions Comparative analysis of the cytogenetic results for all three groups showed significant differences between the miners and the two control groups. The findings of this study need to be interpreted with regard to simultaneous exposure to radon and metals, i.e., lead, cadmium, and zinc.

"This paper presents the risk of death from lung cancer and from other causes of death for the French cohort of uranium miners through 1999 and estimates associations with radon exposure. METHODS: The cohort includes men employed as uranium miners for at least 1 year between 1946 and 1990. For each miner, vital status and cause of death were obtained from the national registry, and radon exposure was reconstructed for each year. Standardised mortality ratios were computed with national mortality rates as references. Exposure-risk relationships were estimated by Poisson regression, with a linear excess relative risk (ERR) model and a 5-year lag. RESULTS: The cohort included 5086 miners and 153 063 person-years of exposure. The mean duration of follow-up was 30.1 years. In all 4140 miners exposed to radon, the average cumulative exposure was 36.6 working level months (WLM). There were 1411 deaths of miners <85 years of age. The miners did not differ significantly in overall mortality from the general male population. The analysis confirmed an excess risk of lung cancer death (n = 159; SMR = 1.43; 95% CI: 1.22 to 1.68), which increased significantly with cumulative radon exposure (ERR per 100 WLM = 0.71; 95% CI: 0.29 to 1.35). The ERR per unit exposure was much higher after 1955, when the accuracy of exposure measurement improved substantially (ERR per 100 WLM = 2.00; 95% CI: 0.91 to 3.65). A significant excess of kidney cancer deaths was observed (n = 20; SMR = 2.0; 95% CI: 1.22 to 3.09), which was not associated with cumulative radon exposure. No excess was observed for other causes of death, except silicosis (n = 23; SMR = 7.12; 95% CI: 4.51 to 10.69). CONCLUSIONS: The analysis confirmed the excess risk of death from lung cancer associated with low radon exposure. An excess risk of death from kidney cancer was also observed, apparently not associated with cumulative radon exposure."