Czech miner studies of lung cancer risk from radon

Abstract

Epidemiological evidence of lung cancer risk from radon is based mainly onstudies of miners. Two such studies among Czech uranium miners wereestablished in 1970 and 1980. A subcohort of 5002 miners and a nested-incase–control study contribute to a joint European project. In this paper, thesubcohort of miners with 495 lung cancers is described. The excess relativerisk depends linearly on cumulative exposure incurred more than 5 yearsbefore. The relative effect from exposures in the distant past decreases by62% per decade. Simultaneously, the excess relative risk is lower by 43%per decade in dependence on age at exposure. The effect of smoking,partly analysed in the study, suggests a twofold elevation in the relativerisk coefficient among non-smokers, but this difference is not significant.