Health effects of radon in air

Widely accepted risk estimates for exposure to radon in homes are derived largely from studies of miners. These include large groups of US Czechoslovakian, and Canadian uranium miners, Newfoundland fluorspar miners, and Swedish iron, lead, and zinc miners, all of which give roughly consistent results, with the excess risk of lung cancer increasing linearly with the exposure to radon. The authors have studied correlations between average radon levels and lung cancer rates in counties of the US. One study based on 50,000 purchased measurements in the main living areas of houses in which there have been no previous measurements involves 310 counties. It gives a weak but statistically significant negative correlation between mean radon levels and lung cancer rates for both females and males, whereas the usual risk estimates predict a large positive correlation