Lung Cancer Attributable to Indoor Radon Exposures in Two Radon--Prone Areas, Stei (Romania) and Torrelodones (Spain)

Journal Article · Fri May 22 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3153442· OSTI ID:21308693

Dinu, Alexandra; Cosma, Constantin; Vasiliniuc, Stefan ^[1]; Sainz, Carlos; Poncela, Luis Santiago Quindos ^[2]

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1. Faculty of Env. Science, 'Babes-Bolyai' University, Fantanele, No. 30 Cluj Napoca (Romania)
2. Department of Medical Physics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cantabria, c/Herrera Oria s/n. 39011, Santander (Spain)

Radon and radon progeny are present indoors, in houses and others dwellings, representing the most important contribution to dose from natural sources of radiation. Most studies have demonstrated an increased risk of lung cancer at high concentration of radon for both smokers and nonsmokers. For medium and low concentrations which are the typical residential radon levels, recent researches have also demonstrated increased risks of lung cancer for people exposed. The work presents a comparative analysis of the radon exposure data in the two radon--prone areas, Stei, Transylvania, (Romania), in the near of old Romanian uranium mines and in the granitic area of Torrelodones town, Sierra de Guadarrama (Spain). One important difference between the two studied areas is related to the houses built using uranium waste as construction material in Stei area. Measurements of indoor radon were performed in 280 dwellings (Romania) and 91 dwellings (Spain) by using nuclear track detectors, CR 39. The highest value measured in Stei area was 2650 Bq{center_dot}m{sup -3}. and 366 Bq{center_dot}m{sup -3} in the Spanish region. The results are compute with the BEIR VI report estimates using the age-duration model at an exposure rate below 2650 Bq{center_dot}m{sup -3}. A total of 233 lung cancer deaths were calculated in the Stei area for a period of 13 years (1994-2006), which is 116.82% higher than observed from the national statistics. In comparison, in Torrelodones area, a number of 276 deaths caused by lung cancer were estimated along a period of 13 years, which is 2.09 times higher than the number observed by authorities. This represents a significantly evidence that elevated risk can strongly be associated with cumulated radon exposure.

• OSTI ID: 21308693
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1131, Issue 1; Conference: TIM-08: Physics conference, Timisoara (Romania), 28-29 Nov 2008; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3153442; (c) 2009 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGANISMS AND BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DAUGHTER PRODUCTS
DEATH
DIELECTRIC TRACK DETECTORS
DOSES
HOUSES
HUMAN POPULATIONS
INDOORS
LUNGS
NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY
NEOPLASMS
RADON
ROMANIA
SPAIN
STATISTICS
URANIUM MINES