RADON IN DEVON AND CORNWALL AND PEDIATRIC MALIGNANCIES

Exposure to radon in dwellings may cause cancer including paediatric m alignancies. Devon and Cornwall have the highest exposure to radon of the counties of England. However, within these counties there is consi derable variation in exposure. Exposure to radon in the 283 postcode s ectors of the two counties has been published. The incidence of childh ood malignancies between 1976 and 1985 was studied to compare postcode sectors of radon exposures greater than or equal to 100 Bq/m(3) with sectors < 100 Bq/m(3). No significant difference in the incidence rate of 106.7 per million child years in the high radon postcode sectors a nd 121.7 in the low (P = 0.29) was found. When the incidences of indiv idual tumours were examined, a significantly increased rate of neurobl astoma (P = 0.02) and a non-significant increased rate of acute myeloi d leukaemia were found in the high exposure postcode sectors. No assoc iation between radon exposure and overall rate of childhood malignancy was found.