RADON - OCCUPATIONAL OR DOMESTIC CARCINOGEN

An association between an excess risk of lung cancer and exposure to r adon and its daughters has been demonstrated in uranium miners and in other miners. In various countries, radon measurements in dwellings sh owed that indoor radon concentrations are in the same range as in unde rground mines. Geographical epidemiological studies do not show an exc ess risk of lung cancer in people living in radon rich areas and case- control studies of domestic exposures lead to conflicting results. A j oint study allowing meta-analysis of the results from 19 epidemiologic al studies carried out throughout the world should provide reliable da ta by and after 1995. Experimental data and biological data from radon -induced human tumours might allow the identification of tumours induc ed by irradiation compared with tumours induced by other agents. Until now, the role of domestic exposure in the occurrence of lung cancer r emains unclear and therefore the usefulness of remedial actions questi onable.