Health Effects of Exposure to Radon BEIR VI (1999) / Chapter Skim
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4 Health Effects of Radon Progeny on Non-Lung-Cancer Outcomes
4 Health Effects of Radon Progeny on Non-Lung-Cancer Outcomes
Pages 117-128
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From page 117... ...
The health effects mentioned in the literature are nonmalignant respiratory diseases in underground miners, cancers other than lung cancer in miners and in the general population, and adverse reproductive outcomes of pregnancies in the wives of uranium miners and in communities adjacent to areas where uranium is mined and milled. The BEIR IV report addressed evidence available through 1987 on these potential health effects.
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From page 118... ...
The upper estimates are comparable with lung doses and might be responsible for a substantial number of skin cancers, most of which would be nonfatal. With assumptions of 125 Cay y-1 to exposed skin of the face and neck, 7.5 Cay y-1 to skin of all other regions, an RBE of 5 for alpha TABLE 4-1 Estimated annual absorbed doses to adult tissues from Rn-222 and its short-lived progeny for domestic radon concentration of 20 Bqm-3 (0.54 pCiL-l)
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From page 119... ...
NONMALIGNANT RESPIRATORY DISEASES In addition to radon, potential causes of nonmalignant respiratory diseases in the underground miners include silica (well documented as causing silicosis) it, blasting fumes, and, in some mines, diesel exhaust.
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From page 120... ...
concluded that the effects of the various inhaled agents in the mines could not be readily separated, and it did not attribute nonmalignant respiratory diseases in underground miners to radon specifically. The principal evidence considered came from surveys of Colorado Plateau and New Mexico uranium miners.
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From page 121... ...
, indicating that radon might be associated with myeloid leukemia, cancer of the kidney, melanoma, and some childhood cancers brought public and scientific concern to the issue. Henshaw and collaborators conducted an ecologic analysis of cancer rates and estimated background radon exposure; positive and statistically significant associations were found.
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From page 122... ...
Darby and colleagues assembled data from 11 cohorts 10 of those included in the lung cancer pooled lung-cancer analysis and a replacement of the Radium Hill cohort with the Cornish tin miners because of the small number of deaths and incomplete follow-up in the Radium Hill group. For each cohort, the expected number of deaths was calculated on the basis of external comparison rates; the external comparisons excluded the China cohort because appropriate national or regional rates were not available.
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From page 123... ...
, and 95% confidence interval (C1) for selected sites of cancer, analysis of pooled data on miners (all studies except China)
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From page 124... ...
The logarithm of the mutation frequency was significantly associated with radon concentration in the homes, which was measured twice for 1 month and for 3 months. This result suggested a mutation frequency that was much greater than would be expected from estimated radon dose to blood and previous in vitro hprt mutation data in numerous cell types.
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From page 125... ...
125 d ~== of ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 'C Me ~ ~ e R ~v)
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From page 126... ...
The apparent lower sensitivity of the FISH-translocation measurements to discriminate radon exposure was ascribed to the much higher control frequencies for translocations compared to dicentrics and to the lower doses received by the hemopoietic compartments such as bone marrow that should contribute most to stable symmetrical aberrations, as compared to mature blood lymphocytes that are the direct target cells for observed dicentric aberrations. The report of Henshaw and colleagues (1990)
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From page 127... ...
There was no evident effect of the fathers' being employed in a uranium mine or mill. There was increased risk for adverse pregnancy outcome if the mother lived near tailings or mine dumps.
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From page 128... ...
Only 2 new studies had been reported on nonmalignant respiratory diseases. The report from New Mexico again documented that uranium mining adversely affects lung function (Mapel and others 1996~.
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