Journal article
Residential radon and risk of lung cancer : A combined analysis of 7 north american case-control studies
Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.), Vol.16(2), pp.137-145
2005
DOI: 10.1097/01.ede.0000152522.80261.e3
PMID: 15703527
Abstract
Background: Underground miners exposed to high levels of radon have an excess risk of lung cancer. Residential exposure to radon is at much lower levels, and the risk of lung cancer with residential exposure is less clear. We conducted a systematic analysis of pooled data from all North American residential radon studies.
Methods: The pooling project included original data from 7 North American case-control studies, all of which used long-term alpha-track detectors to assess residential radon concentrations. A total of 3662 cases and 4966 controls were retained for the analysis. We used conditional likelihood regression to estimate the excess risk of lung cancer.
Results: Odds ratios (ORs) for lung cancer increased with residential radon concentration. The estimated OR after exposure to radon at a concentration of 100 Bq/m3 in the exposure time window 5 to 30 years before the index date was 1.11 (95% confidence interval = 1.00-1.28). This estimate is compatible with the estimate of 1.12 (1.02-1.25) predicted by downward extrapolation of the miner data. There was no evidence of heterogeneity of radon effects across studies. There was no apparent heterogeneity in the association by sex, educational level, type of respondent (proxy or self), or cigarette smoking, although there was some evidence of a decreasing radon-associated lung cancer risk with age. Analyses restricted to subsets of the data with presumed more accurate radon dosimetry resulted in increased estimates of risk.
Conclusions: These results provide direct evidence of an association between residential radon and lung cancer risk, a finding predicted using miner data and consistent with results from animal and in vitro studies.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Residential radon and risk of lung cancer : A combined analysis of 7 north american case-control studies
- Creators
- Daniel Krewski - McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaJay H Lubin - Biostatistics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, United StatesDale P Sandler - Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, United StatesJanet B Schoenberg - Cancer Epidemiology, Department of Health and Senior Services, Trenton, New Jersey, United StatesDaniel J Steck - Department of Physics, St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota, United StatesJan A Stolwijk - School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United StatesClarice Weinberg - Biostatistics Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, United StatesHomer B Wilcox - Cancer Epidemiology, Department of Health and Senior Services, Trenton, New Jersey, United StatesJan M Zielinski - McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaMichael Alavanja - Occupational Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Washington, DC, United StatesVanessa S Catalan - Centre of Excellence for Children and Adolescents with Special Needs, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, CanadaR. William Field - Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, United StatesJudith B Klotz - Cancer Epidemiology, Department of Health and Senior Services, Trenton, New Jersey, United StatesErnest G Letourneau - Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Protection Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaCharles F Lynch - Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, United StatesJoseph I Lyon - Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.), Vol.16(2), pp.137-145
- Publisher
- Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
- DOI
- 10.1097/01.ede.0000152522.80261.e3
- PMID
- 15703527
- ISSN
- 1044-3983
- eISSN
- 1531-5487
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2005
- Academic Unit
- Occupational and Environmental Health; Epidemiology
- Record Identifier
- 9984214713602771
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