24. May 2010 01:38
A report recently released by the President's Cancer Panel focuses on underestimated cancer risks related to environmental contaminants and other harmful exposures, including radon. The report, "Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now," notes that "the cancer risk attributable to residential radon exposure has been clearly demonstrated and must be better addressed."
"This report has some of the strongest worded recommendations yet in regard to radon," said R. William Field, University of Iowa professor of occupational and environmental health and epidemiology. "Radon is likely our leading environmental cause of cancer mortality in the United States. During the past 50 years, over a million people have died nationwide from radon-related lung cancer."
Radon, a radioactive, invisible, odorless gas that comes from the decay of naturally occurring uranium in the earth's soil, can accumulate in enclosed areas, such as underground mines and homes. It is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States and the leading cause of lung cancer among people who have never smoked, according to the report.
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