Report Links Radon to American Lung Cancer Deaths

Radon, a natural radioactive gas that collects in some homes, is linked to about 21,800 American lung cancer deaths a year, researchers said Thursday. Most of the victims were smokers.

“Radon, particularly in combination with smoking, poses an important public health risk,” said Dr. Jonathan Samet, a Johns Hopkins University professor and chairman of a National Research Council radon study committee.

Exposure to radon at any concentration, Samet said Thursday at a news conference, “carries some risk of lung cancer.”

Although the NRC committee carefully avoided taking a policy position, the report adds weight to a recommendation from the Environmental Protection Agency for radon testing in homes and for venting of houses that have high levels of the gas.

Americans have spent an estimated $400 million on radon testing and renovation since the gas was first linked to lung cancer in the 1980s. The NRC panel said about 6% of U.S. homes contain radon above the level at which EPA recommends corrective action.

The NRC report does little to settle a controversy about just how dangerous radon gas is in the home. Some research, such as a 1996 Finnish study published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, has found that even at high concentrations radon poses, at most, a very slight risk.

Radon gas comes from the decay of uranium and radium in soil and rocks. When inhaled, the gas can leave Alpha particles, which emit low levels of radiation over long periods of time, in the lungs.