Radon is recognized as a public health concern for indoor exposure. Precise quantification derived from occupational exposure in miners is still needed for estimating the risk and the factors that modify the dependence on cumulated exposure. The present paper reports on relationship between radon exposure and lung cancer risk in French and Czech cohorts of uranium miners (n = 10,100). Miners from these two cohorts are characterized by low levels of exposure (average cumulated exposure of less than 60 WLM) protracted over a long period (mean duration of exposure of 10 years) and by a good quality of individual exposure estimates (95% of annual exposures based on radon measurements). The modifying effect of the quality of exposure on the risk is analyzed. A total of 574 lung cancer deaths were observed, which is 187% higher than expected from the national statistics. This significantly elevated risk is strongly associated with cumulated radon exposure. The estimated overall excess relative risk per WLM is 0.027 (95% CI: 0.017-0.043, related to measured exposures). For age at exposure of 30 and 20 years since exposure, the ERR/WLM is 0.042, and this value decreases by approximately 50% for each 10-year increase in age at exposure and time since exposure. The present study emphasizes that the quality of exposure estimates is an important factor that may substantially influence results. Time since exposure and simultaneously age at exposure were the most important effect modifiers. No inverse exposure-rate effect below 4 WL was observed. The results are consistent with estimates of the BEIR VI report using the concentration model at an exposure rate below 0.5 WL.

National Radiation Protection Institute Praque Czech Republic

References provided by Crossref.org

Lifetime excess absolute risk for lung cancer due to exposure to radon: results of the pooled uranium miners cohort study PUMA

Radon and lung cancer in the pooled uranium miners analysis (PUMA): highly exposed early miners and all miners

Lung Cancer and Radon: Pooled Analysis of Uranium Miners Hired in 1960 or Later

A discussion on the potential impact of residential radon exposure on the quality of exposure and risk assessment for former uranium miners

Radon and cancer mortality among underground uranium miners in the Příbram region of the Czech Republic

PUMA - pooled uranium miners analysis: cohort profile

Low radon exposures and lung cancer risk: joint analysis of the Czech, French, and Beaverlodge cohorts of uranium miners