Radon Health Cures -- Who Knew?

I thought I knew everything there was to know about the effects of radon on health, having written a long chapter on radon in my book Hyping Health Risks (2008). But until I came across a lively graphic essay a few days ago, I had no idea that, for over half a century, people suffering from a wide array of ailments have been flocking to decommissioned gold and uranium mines in Montana to soak up the healing radiation deep in the earth.

 In Germany And Austria, Visits To Radon Health Spas Are Covered By Health Insurance

It’s interesting that the glossy Bad Gastein brochure nowhere mentions the fact that radon is considered a known human lung carcinogen by health agencies, including the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the National Cancer Institute, and the Environmental Protection Agency. So there is an apparent contradiction between the advertised health benefits of radon therapy and the widely-publicized dangers of radon in homes. How are we to reconcile these two different effects attributed to radon?

 Radon Causes Cancer. These Tourists Drink It Up.

Most of us go to great lengths to avoid carcinogens...

 Radon exposure is rising steadily within the modern North American residential environment, and is increasingly uniform across seasons

Human-made buildings can artificially concentrate radioactive radon gas of geologic origin, exposing occupants to harmful alpha particle radiation emissions that damage DNA and increase lung cancer risk.

What is radon?

Radon is an invisible gas formed in the Earth’s crust. It surrounds every one of us as part of the air we breathe.

Don't Fear Radon Concerns At Home; They're Overblown

There is fear circulating about the risk of lung cancer due to inhaled radon gas, as a result of the widespread publicity given to studies that link lung cancer incidence to radon concentration using a "linear no-threshold" (LNT) model. This model which many scientists say is baseless and should be scrapped predicts an alarming excess of cancers, even at low radon levels.

RADON - The Hidden Environmental Hazard

Radon exposure is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. Instead of being worried about airport scanners and pat-downs, perhaps we ought to be paying more attention to ensuring that our homes are as safe as possible!

The hidden killer in your home – and how to avoid it

As Radon is emitted from the ground, it quickly dilutes in the atmosphere into relatively harmless concentrations. But in confined and unventilated spaces in buildings, in basements and in underground mines, it’s concentration levels can become dangerously high.

Have you tested your home for cancer-causing radon gas?

As a society, we have a well-recognised problem with environmentally-induced cancers. Testing your home for radon gas is an effective prevention strategy and radon is one of the most easily eradicated causes of lung cancer. The problem is most people do not know this.

In Highlighting Radon's Risks, Context Needed

Every January, the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies hit the airwaves to tell us that radon gas can kill and that every home should be tested. But that message skips over many complexities surrounding the risks from radon. Radon is a heavy, radioactive gas that can seep out of the soil into basements and other parts of a house. There's no question that inhaling a lot of radon is bad for you, but some scientists think such statements could use a little context.

My $1,200 Radon Job

Despite the risks, radon until recently has ranked pretty low on many homeowners' action lists, including mine. You can't see, smell or taste it, which makes it -- unlike mold -- easy to ignore. The federal government recommends but doesn't mandate remediation for homes with elevated levels. And let's face it: In the scheme of renovations, there are sexier ways to drop 1,200 bucks than drilling a fat hole in the basement. But as homeowners and builders rush to make dwellings healthier on all fronts -- from nontoxic paints and organic lawns to formaldehyde-free kitchen cabinets -- radon is emerging as a hot button in both new construction and resales.

Radiation in Your Own Home?

What is radon? And why are they saying all those bad things about it?

Radon – A Brief Discussion

A large portion of the general population is under the misconception that the frequently published risks associated with radon are well accepted scientific facts. In reality, the vast majority of well designed studies do not support policy or positions that exposures to indoor radon pose a significant threat to health, and indeed, the majority of those studies indicate that, at concentrations typically seen in homes, as the level of radon increases, the risk of lung cancer goes down, not up. The following section is a brief discussion of how radon occurs and the science-based risks associated with radon exposure.

Radon, Smoking, and Lung Cancer: The Need to Refocus Radon Control Policy

Exposure to radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer, and the risk is significantly higher for smokers than for nonsmokers. More than 85% of radon-induced lung cancer deaths are among smokers. The most powerful approach for reducing the public health burden of radon is shaped by 2 overarching principles: public communication efforts that promote residential radon testing and remediation will be the most cost effective if they are primarily directed at current and former smokers; and focusing on smoking prevention and cessation is the optimal strategy for reducing radon-induced lung cancer in terms of both public health gains and economic efficiency. Tobacco control policy is the most promising route to the public health goals of radon control policy.

Radon: Unmasking the Invisible Killer

Radon exposure is a serious health threat, but we can work together to reduce the risk. As we continue to roll out our national strategies, you can do your part by testing your home, and if the radon level is unsafe, take action to reduce it. Together, we can unmask the invisible killer and eliminate lung cancer caused by radon.

The Radon Threat Is Still With Us

Since the late 1980s, a half million Americans have died from radon-induced lung cancer, including a significant number who never smoked a day in their lives. You may have heard of radon more than 20 years ago when dangerous levels were first found in homes across the country. But the risks posed by this gas still have not been addressed in much of the nation.

Trump Wants the EPA Radon Program Cut. So Do Some Scientists

At least one of Trump's proposed budget cuts targets a program that some scientists have been questioning for decades: residential radon risk. That program, which sets the standards for risk and protection from radon gas, would be completely zeroed out. Now, according to the EPA, the WHO, and many other big public health organizations, radon is second only to cigarette smoking as a leading cause for lung cancer. The EPA says radon gas causes 21,000 deaths every year. Yet some critics in the health care profession say that’s all baloney.

Undermining our lives? – Radon seeps into the homes of millions of people around the world. Its effects may have been seriously exaggerated

BERNARD COHEN has stirred up a hornet’s nest. He has completed the biggest ever study into what is supposedly the most important cause of lung cancer other than smoking—radon gas. His investigation, which drew on data from almost half a million homes throughout the US, suggests that below a certain level the risk of contracting lung cancer from radon is zero. But far from rejoicing at his findings, researchers and health officials on both sides of the Atlantic are rubbishing them.

What Wired Gets Dangerously Wrong About Radon

Radon gas in the home and other indoor spaces is a serious hazard, according to the World Health Organization, the American Lung Association, the European Radon Association, the National Cancer Institute, and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Yet in a puzzling story last week, Wired suggested that eliminating the EPA’s radon programs would somehow decrease the risk of lung cancer. It is difficult to connect the dots as to how the story arrived at this conclusion.