Mineral dusts and radon in uranium mines

Journal Article · Fri Nov 08 04:00:00 EST 1991 · Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1948055· OSTI ID:5829186

Abelson, P H

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to assert that radon is a major cause of lung cancer in this country. EPA is fostering a radon program that could entail huge financial and emotional costs while yielding negligible benefits to public health. Justification for the program was the occurrence of lung cancer in men exposed to huge amounts of radon, mineral dusts, and other lung irritants in uranium mines on the Colorado Plateau. Lung cancer has been reported in about 356 cigarette smokers and in about 25 nonsmokers. During the era of high radon levels, monitoring was sporadic. Conditions in only a small fraction of the mines were measured, and that on a few separate occasions. Later, cumulative exposure to radon was calculated on the basis of measurements involving only a tiny fraction of the miners. Some were exposed to more than 15,000 pCi/liter of radon and its products. The level in the average home is about 1.5 pCi/liter. In making extrapolations from mine to home, the assumption is made that residents are in their dwellings most of the time and that miners spend only 170 hours a month in the mine. Two major questionable assumptions are involved in extrapolations from high doses of radon in the mines to low doses in homes. One is that no threshold is involved; that is, that humans have no remediation mechanism for {alpha} particle damages. There is evidence to the contrary. The most unrealistic assumption is that heavy exposure to silica has no effect on inducing lung cancer. Many studies have shown that silica dust causes lung cancer in animals. Exposure of human culture cells to silica has resulted in formation of neoplastic tissue. EPA has no solid evidence that exposures to 4 pCi/liter of radon causes lung cancer in either smokers or nonsmokers. Indeed, there is abundant evidence to the contrary in the fact that in states with high levels of radon, inhabitants have less lung cancer than those in states with low levels.

• OSTI ID: 5829186
• Journal Information: Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States), Journal Name: Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States) Vol. 254:5033; ISSN SCIEA; ISSN 0036-8075
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540130* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
560161 -- Radionuclide Effects
Kinetics
& Toxicology-- Man
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AEROSOLS
BODY
CHALCOGENIDES
COLLOIDS
DISEASES
DISPERSIONS
DUSTS
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELEMENTS
FLUIDS
GASES
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
LUNGS
MINERALS
MINES
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NEOPLASMS
NONMETALS
ORGANS
OXIDE MINERALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIATION HAZARDS
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RADIOINDUCTION
RADON
RARE GASES
RESIDUES
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
SILICA
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SILICON OXIDES
SMOKES
SOLS
TOBACCO SMOKES
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
URANIUM MINES
US EPA
US ORGANIZATIONS