Studies of indoor radon and lung cancer risk
- National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD (United States)
Epidemiologic case-control studies reported to date have not consistently shown an association between indoor radon and lung cancer risk, even though studies of radon-exposed underground miners have conclusively shown that exposure to radon and its progeny causes lung cancer. Some have interpreted this seeming inconsistency as evidence that exposure to radon at the levels typically found in homes does not cause lung cancer; that exposure in homes causes lung cancer but not to the extent estimated from miner-based risk models; or that risk among miners is dominated by smoking or by other exposures, and miner-based risk models are therefore not relevant to residential exposures. The inconsistency of results has led to claims that indoor radon may not pose a significant public health hazard and that current risk management approaches may not be justified. This paper examines current indoor radon studies. Results from current studies are presented, and then followed by computer simulations, which illustrate the impact of mobility and exposure misclassification. Finally, results of a meta-analysis of indoor studies are presented that suggest that RRs are consistent with miner-based extrapolations and with a small excess risk from indoor exposures, but that there remains unexplained heterogeneity among the studies.
- Research Organization:
- National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Bethesda, MD (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 526025
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960405--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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