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Missouri Medicine 2020Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide and the third most common cancer following breast and prostate.1 As expected, the primary factor leading to...
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide and the third most common cancer following breast and prostate.1 As expected, the primary factor leading to lung cancer is tobacco smoke, and as smoking rates have declined, we have also seen an overall decline in lung cancer rates.2 Despite the general reduction in lung cancer rates, the rate of lung cancer in non-smokers has been noted to be increasing.3-8.
Topics: Aged; Environmental Exposure; Female; Humans; Lung Neoplasms; Male; Middle Aged; Missouri; Non-Smokers; Radon; Risk Factors
PubMed: 32848276
DOI: No ID Found -
Toxics Aug 2023Radon is a carcinogenic factor, but the effects of the potential carcinogenicity of radon progeny on the human body during the prenatal period have not yet been...
Radon is a carcinogenic factor, but the effects of the potential carcinogenicity of radon progeny on the human body during the prenatal period have not yet been explored. Based on data regarding the half-lives of radon-222 and radon-220 and their progeny, this paper considers their potential effects on the human body in the prenatal period. Radon-220 represents a small fraction of the total radon concentration in the air, but the dose of radon-220 progeny may have a significant effect in the prenatal period, as the precursors of polonium-212 exhibit substantially longer half-lives than the corresponding precursors of polonium-214. Theoretically, it is possible that radon-220 decay products, particularly polonium-212, are the predominant emitters of alpha particles in the prenatal period. Studies aiming to establish a relationship between exposure to radon during pregnancy and the subsequently observed incidence of childhood neoplasms should consider this observation.
PubMed: 37624186
DOI: 10.3390/toxics11080681 -
Yonsei Medical Journal Jul 2019Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive material that is formed as the decay product of uranium and thorium, and is estimated to contribute to approximately half of... (Review)
Review
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive material that is formed as the decay product of uranium and thorium, and is estimated to contribute to approximately half of the average annual natural background radiation. When inhaled, it damages the lungs during radioactive decay and affects the human body. Through many epidemiological studies regarding occupational exposure among miners and residential exposure among the general population, radon has been scientifically proven to cause lung cancer, and radon exposure is the second most common cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking. However, it is unclear whether radon exposure causes diseases other than lung cancer. Media reports have often dealt with radon exposure in relation to health problems, although public attention has been limited to a one-off period. However, recently in Korea, social interest and concern about radon exposure and its health effects have increased greatly due to mass media reports of high concentrations of radon being released from various close-to-life products, such as mattresses and beauty masks. Accordingly, this review article is intended to provide comprehensive scientific information regarding the health effects of radon exposure.
Topics: Health; Humans; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced; Radiation Exposure; Radon
PubMed: 31250572
DOI: 10.3349/ymj.2019.60.7.597 -
International Journal of Molecular... Dec 2020Largely unnoticed, all life on earth is constantly exposed to low levels of ionizing radiation. Radon, an imperceptible natural occurring radioactive noble gas,... (Review)
Review
Largely unnoticed, all life on earth is constantly exposed to low levels of ionizing radiation. Radon, an imperceptible natural occurring radioactive noble gas, contributes as the largest single fraction to radiation exposure from natural sources. For that reason, radon represents a major issue for radiation protection. Nevertheless, radon is also applied for the therapy of inflammatory and degenerative diseases in galleries and spas to many thousand patients a year. In either case, chronic environmental exposure or therapy, the effect of radon on the organism exposed is still under investigation at all levels of interaction. This includes the physical stage of diffusion and energy deposition by radioactive decay of radon and its progeny and the biological stage of initiating and propagating a physiologic response or inducing cancer after chronic exposure. The purpose of this manuscript is to comprehensively review the current knowledge of radon and its progeny on physical background, associated cancer risk and potential therapeutic effects.
Topics: Air Pollution, Indoor; Animals; Clinical Trials as Topic; Environmental Exposure; Humans; Neoplasms; Radiation Exposure; Radiation Monitoring; Radon; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors
PubMed: 33396815
DOI: 10.3390/ijms22010316 -
Oncology Reviews Feb 2022Radon is an established human lung carcinogen naturally released as an odorless, colorless gas from soil and rocks. It is a major environmental source of ionizing...
Radon is an established human lung carcinogen naturally released as an odorless, colorless gas from soil and rocks. It is a major environmental source of ionizing radiation and can cause oxidative damage to DNA, increasing the risk of lung cancer. Although the association between radon and lung cancer is well established, the association between radon and other cancers is not. Based on reported studies, there is no consistent evidence indicating an association between radon and non-solid and solid cancers, but limited literature, heterogenous study design, and confounding variables preclude definitive conclusions. More research is needed to evaluate the association between residential radon and non-lung cancers, particularly with regard to skin cancer, central nervous system (CNS) cancer, renal, and stomach cancer, in which existing literature suggests potential associations with residential radon may exist. However, the literature largely demonstrates that lung cancer is the primary concern associated with residential radon exposure; the lack of association with nonlung cancers could reflect the lack of studies which have an adequate sample size, establish accurate levels of radon exposure, and control for confounders. These results should be considered in residential radon mitigation efforts which should focus on smokers with high radon exposures.
PubMed: 35386751
DOI: 10.4081/oncol.2022.558 -
Cancers Jun 2022Lung cancer is a public health problem and the first cause of cancer death worldwide. Radon is a radioactive gas that tends to accumulate inside homes, and it is the... (Review)
Review
Lung cancer is a public health problem and the first cause of cancer death worldwide. Radon is a radioactive gas that tends to accumulate inside homes, and it is the second lung cancer risk factor after smoking, and the first one in non-smokers. In Europe, there are several radon-prone areas, and although the 2013/59 EURATOM directive is aimed to regulate indoor radon exposition, regulating measures can vary between countries. Radon emits alpha-ionizing radiation that has been linked to a wide variety of cytotoxic and genotoxic effects; however, the link between lung cancer and radon from the genomic point of view remains poorly described. Driver molecular alterations have been recently identified in non-small lung cancer (NSCLC), such as somatic mutations (, , ) or chromosomal rearrangements (, , , ), mainly in the non-smoking population, where no risk factor has been identified yet. An association between radon exposure and oncogenic NSCLC in non-smokers has been hypothesised. This paper provides a practical, concise and updated review on the implications of indoor radon in lung cancer carcinogenesis, and especially of its potential relation with NSCLC with driver genomic alterations.
PubMed: 35804914
DOI: 10.3390/cancers14133142 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jul 2022We "bathe" in radiation, which is an integral part of our environment [...].
We "bathe" in radiation, which is an integral part of our environment [...].
Topics: Air Pollutants, Radioactive; Air Pollution, Indoor; Environmental Monitoring; Housing; Radiation Monitoring; Radioactivity; Radon
PubMed: 35954633
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19159276 -
International Journal of Environmental... Apr 2021Radon is pervasive in our environment and the second leading cause of lung cancer induction after smoking. Therefore, the measurement of radon activity concentrations in...
Radon is pervasive in our environment and the second leading cause of lung cancer induction after smoking. Therefore, the measurement of radon activity concentrations in homes is important. The use of charcoal is an easy and cost-efficient method for this purpose, as radon can bind to charcoal via Van der Waals interaction. Admittedly, there are potential influencing factors during exposure that can distort the results and need to be investigated. Consequently, charcoal was exposed in a radon chamber at different parameters. Afterward, the activity of the radon decay products Pb and Bi was measured and extrapolated to the initial radon activity in the sample. After an exposure of 1 h, around 94% of the maximum value was attained and used as a limit for the subsequent exposure time. Charcoal was exposed at differing humidity ranging from 5 to 94%, but no influence on radon adsorption could be detected. If the samples were not sealed after exposure, radon desorbed with an effective half-life of around 31 h. There is also a strong dependence of radon uptake on the chemical structure of the recipient material, which is interesting for biological materials or diffusion barriers as this determines accumulation and transport.
Topics: Adsorption; Air Pollutants, Radioactive; Charcoal; Radiation Monitoring; Radon
PubMed: 33922246
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18094454 -
International Journal of Environmental... Oct 2020To carry out a systematic review of scientific literature about the association between radon exposure and neurodegenerative diseases. We performed a bibliographic...
To carry out a systematic review of scientific literature about the association between radon exposure and neurodegenerative diseases. We performed a bibliographic search in the following databases: Pub med (Medline), Cochrane, BioMed Central and Web of Science. We collected the data by following a predetermined search strategy in which several terms werecombined. After an initial search, 77 articles were obtained.10 of which fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Five of these 10 studies were related to multiple sclerosis (MS), 2 were about motor neuron diseases (MND), in particular amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and 3 were related to both Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). The majority of the included articles, suggested a possible association between radon exposure and a subsequent development of neurodegenerative diseases. Some of the studies that obtained statistically significant resultsrevealed a possible association between radon exposure and an increase in MS prevalence. Furthermore, it was also suggested that radon exposure increases MND and AD mortality. Regarding AD and PD, it was observed that certainde cay products of radon-222 (Rn), specifically polonium-210 (Po) and bismuth-210 (Bi), present a characteristic distributionpattern within the brain anatomy. However, the study with the highest scientific evidence included in this review, which investigated a possible association between the concentration of residential radon gas and the MS incidence, revealed no significant results. It cannot be concluded, although it is observed, that there is a possible causal association between radon exposure and neurodegenerative diseases. Most of the available studies are ecological so, studies of higher statistical evidence are needed to establish a causal relationship. Further research is needed on this topic.
Topics: Alzheimer Disease; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; Humans; Motor Neuron Disease; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Radon
PubMed: 33066046
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17207439