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| June 5 | |
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Lung Cancer & Radon |
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According to a new study, the longer your exposure to radon, the greater your risk for lung cancer. The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, showed that Iowa women who lived in the same houses for twenty years or more and whose homes registered unsafe levels of radon had a fifty percent increased risk of developing lung cancer. Radon is an odorless, tasteless, colorless gas that’s produced by the natural decay of uranium that is found naturally in rocks, soil and water. It travels from the soil into buildings through cracks and other openings. As radon decays, it emits radiation by producing particles or attaching to other particles, which can be breathed in and can be trapped in the lungs when you breathe. Since most indoor radon comes from the soil, the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA recommends testing all homes below the third floor, and especially the lowest levels, like the basement. There are services that test for radon, or you can do it yourself with a simple home testing kit you can buy at a hardware store. Nearly one out of every 15 homes had a radon level EPA considers to be elevated. Any radon exposure carries some risk, but if your test shows a level of more than 4 pico curies per liter, then retesting and taking steps to reduce radon exposure may be warranted. |
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Are there any symptoms that one might get with radon exposure, any warning signs? That’s what’s so tricky. Radon doesn’t cause immediate respiratory problems like coughing or problems with breathing, so you really don’t get any warning signs. Continuous radon exposure damages the DNA, or building blocks, of our lung cells, so it can cause cancer years after the exposure. Another thing to note is that smokers who are exposed to elevated radon levels have an even greater risk of lung cancer. | |
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RESOURCES:
American Journal of Epidemiology 2000; 151:1092-1102 |
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