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RE: Lung Cancer Is Not Just For Smokers

in #health • 8 years ago (edited)

I hear you, I am a skeptic myself. Radon is everywhere, but so is the sun when it's shining...and we now know (hopefully) it's a good idea wear sunscreen to protect against UV rays, which cause skin cancer.

Scientists conduct epidemiological studies to determine the linkage between exposure and cancer (and other diseases). For radon, the studies began after noticing high rates of cancer in uranium miners.

8 years ago in #health by
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     8 years ago  

    well yeah but correlation =/= causation . There are so many radioactive things around us it is impossible to determine causality exclusively for one

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       8 years ago  

      Modifying effects from other factors are usually taken into account. Excerpt from an article published by the National Academy of Sciences in 1999:

      The evidence on radon and lung-cancer is now extensive. Initially, research was driven by the need to characterize the risks faced by underground miners so that exposure limits that would keep risks to an acceptable level could be set. The work emphasized epidemiologic studies of the uranium and other underground miners exposed to radon, but animal studies were also conducted to address the modifying effects of such factors as the presence of ore dust and diesel exhaust, cigarette-smoking, and dose rate. Models of the respiratory tract were developed to characterize the relationship between exposure to radon progeny and dose of alpha energy delivered to target cells in the respiratory epithelium. . . . The new techniques of cellular and molecular biology also have brought new insights into how alpha particles injure the genetic material of cells and cause cancer.

      Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of pollutants as well as radioactive material in the enviroment, and not everyone will die of cancer. But if a strong correlation is found and there are low-cost ways to increase your chances of not getting cancer, might as well give it a shot, right?