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Pages 1-19

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From page 1...
... Thus, alpha radiations from decay of radon progeny in the lungs cannot reach cells in any other organs, so it is likely that lung cancer is the only potentially important cancer hazard posed by radon in indoor air. For a century, it has been known that some underground miners suffered from higher rates of lung cancer than the general population.
From page 2...
... Since a valid risk estimate could not be derived only from the results of studies in homes, the BEIR VI committee chose to use the lung-cancer information from studies of miners, who are more heavily exposed to radon, to estimate the risks posed by radon exposures in homes. In particular, the committee has drawn on 11 major studies of underground miners, which together involved about 68,000 men, of whom 2,700 have died from lung cancer.
From page 3...
... The risk of lung cancer caused by smoking is much higher than the risk of lung cancer caused by indoor radon. Most of the radon-related deaths among smokers would not have occurred if the victims had not smoked.
From page 4...
... In addition to being present at high concentrations in many types of underground mines, radon is found in homes and is also present outdoors. Extensive measurements of radon concentrations in homes show that although concentrations vary widely, radon is universally present, raising concerns that radon in homes increases lung-cancer risk for the general population, especially those who spend a majority of their time indoors at home.
From page 5...
... There is additional information for calculating the dose of alpha particles received by the lung from inhaled radon progeny, the topic of a 1991 follow-up report to the BEIR IV report, the report of the National Research Council's Panel on Dosimetric Assumptions. Finally, during the last decade, a number of epidemiologic case-control studies that estimated the risk associated with indoor radon directly have also been implemented.
From page 6...
... However, the committee recognized that it could not exclude the possibility of a threshold relationship between exposure and lung cancer risk at very low levels of radon exposure. Extrapolation from higher to lower radon exposures is also influenced by the inverse dose-rate effect, an increasing effect of a given total exposure as the rate of exposure is decreased, as demonstrated by experiments in vivo and in vitro for high-LET radiation, including alpha particles, and in miner data.
From page 7...
... Nonetheless, the committee considered the findings of a meta-analysis of the 8 completed studies. In developing its risk models, the committee started with the recently reported analyses by Lubin and colleagues of data from 11 studies of underground miners uranium miners in Colorado, New Mexico, France, Australia, the Czech
From page 8...
... The new models are similar in form to the BEIR IV model, but have an additional term for exposure rate and more-detailed categories for the time-since-exposure windows and for attained age. RISK ASSESSMENT The committee's risk models can be used to project the lung-cancer risk associated with radon exposure, both for individuals and for the entire US population.
From page 9...
... To estimate risks of indoor radon exposures, it is thus necessary to make an assumption about the shape of the exposure-risk relationship across the lower range of the distribution of radon exposures. The committee selected a linear-nonthreshold relationship relating exposure to risk for the relatively low exposures at issue for indoor radon.
From page 10...
... Risks for Women The risk model is based on epidemiologic studies of male miners. The effect of radon exposure on lung-cancer risk in women might be different from that in men because of differing lung dosimetry or other factors related to gender.
From page 11...
... The radon concentration distribution is highly skewed, with homes with higher radon concentrations contributing dispro
From page 12...
... 12 o a' o a' o ·_4 a' Ail · _4 so Jo so a' C)
From page 13...
... This contribution to the total AR is indicative of the potential magnitude of avoidable deaths with a risk management program based on the current action guideline. While 10-15 percent of all lung cancers are estimated to be attributable to indoor radon, eliminating exposures in excess of 148 Bqm-3 (4 pCiL-~)
From page 14...
... 14 {34 so a' is; ~ o ~ ·4= X a' o s=~ o a' · Cq a' so o o o Cq a' VO so Jo Cq .= a' o o .0 Cq VO ¢ o is; o so C)
From page 15...
... Table ES-4 shows the estimated lung-cancer deaths in the United States attributable to indoor radon progeny exposure under the BEIR VI models. A review of the data presented in Table ES-4 reveals some differences in the calculated radon-attributable lung-cancer deaths using the exposure-age-concentration model and the exposure-age-duration model.
From page 16...
... Errors in data on exposure to radon and radon progeny including estimated cumulative exposures, exposure rates and durations; c) Limitations in data on other exposures including data on smoking and on other exposures such as arsenic.
From page 17...
... The committee could not identify any overall systematic bias in the exposure estimates for radon progeny, but random errors might have led to an underestimation of the slope of the exposure-risk relationship. Although 6 of 11 study cohorts had some smoking information, sparse information on smoking limited the committee's characterization of the combined effects of smoking and radon-progeny exposure and precluded precise estimation of the risk of radon-progeny exposure in neversmokers.
From page 18...
... A case series of uranium miners with pulmonary fibrosis supported the possibility that exposures to radon progeny may cause fibrosis of the pulmonary interstitium, but the case series is insufficient to establish a causal link to radon progeny specifically. CONCLUSIONS Radon is one of the most extensively investigated human carcinogens.
From page 19...
... The full number of attributed deaths can be prevented through radon mitigation only by eliminating radon in homes, a theoretical scenario that cannot be reasonably achieved. Nonetheless, the burden of lung-cancer deaths attributed to the upper end of the exposure distribution is expected to be reduced by lowering radon concentrations.


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