Canadian Lung Cancer Relative Risk from Radon Exposure for Short Periods in Childhood Compared to a Lifetime

Jing Chen

doi:10.3390/ijerph10051916

Abstract

Long-term exposure to elevated indoor radon concentrations has been determined to be the second leading cause of lung cancer in adults after tobacco smoking. With the establishment of a National Radon Program in Canada in 2007 thousands of homes across the country have been tested for radon. Although the vast majority of people are exposed to low or moderate radon concentrations; from time to time; there are homes found with very high concentrations of radon. Among those living in homes with very high radon concentrations, it is typically parents of young children that demonstrate a great deal of concern. They want to know the equivalent risk in terms of the lifetime relative risk of developing lung cancer when a child has lived in a home with high radon for a few years. An answer to this question of risk equivalency is proposed in this paper. The results demonstrate clearly that the higher the radon concentration; the sooner remedial measures should be undertaken; as recommended by Health Canada in the Canadian radon guideline.

Highlights

Radon is a radioactive gas produced by the decay of natural uranium in rocks and soils throughout the Earth’s crust
As a result of the National Radon Program radon awareness campaign families with young children are more concerned when their homes are found to have radon concentrations significantly higher than the Canadian radon guideline of 200 Bq/m3. This is because exposure to radon earlier in life increases the risk of developing lung cancer during their lifetime
If a child lived in a home with radon concentration of 2,000 Bq/m3 for four years, the Lifetime relative risk (LRR) is equivalent to lifetime exposure to radon of 100 Bq/m3 for individuals who will never smoke in their lifetime

Summary

Introduction

Radon is a radioactive gas produced by the decay of natural uranium in rocks and soils throughout the Earth’s crust. Recent scientific studies [2,3] provided strong evidence to link an increased risk of developing lung cancer to levels of radon found in homes These studies prompted the Government of Canada to collaborate with provincial and territorial governments to review the Canadian radon guideline. The vast majority of people are exposed to low or moderate indoor radon concentrations, on occasion homes with very high concentrations of radon are found Among those living in homes tested with high radon concentrations, parents of young children are often the most concerned. They want to know the equivalent risk in terms of the lifetime relative risk of developing lung cancer for childhood radon exposure. They want to understand the lifetime risk for their children and what the equivalent lifetime radon exposure is when their children have lived in high radon homes for a few years? An answer to this question of risk equivalency is proposed here

Lifetime Relative Risk of Radon Induced Lung Cancer

LRR-Equivalency of Short Period High Exposure to Lifetime Constant Exposure

Findings

Conclusions