Research on the effects of radon on health

There is now no doubt that radon can cause lung cancer in humans. We know how radon affects human health and how we can protect ourselves from high radon concentrations. But how do we actually know what risks radon poses?

Schneeberger disease

As early as the 16th century, it was noticed that young miners in the Erzgebirge suffered from lung disease. Their fatal lung disease was known as "Schneeberger disease".

Only centuries later was it recognised that this disease was lung cancer caused by inhaling radon and its decay products.

Miner studies

Drilling miners working underground while standing in shallow water

Current knowledge about the effects of radon on human health is based largely on epidemiological studies on miners carried out since the 1960s. They showed that radon increases the risk of lung cancer in underground uranium miners.

One example of a study of miners is the German Wismut Uranium Miners Study by the BfS – it comprises approx. 60,000 former Wismut employees who worked in uranium mining in the former GDR between 1946 and 1990.

Studies on radon in the home

Since the 1980s, the miner studies have been complemented by case-control studies on the risk of lung cancer from radon in homes in Europe, North America, and China. The largest and most pertinent of these is the study "Radon in homes and risk of lung cancer: collaborative analysis of individual data from 13 European case-control studies" conducted in 2005.

This pooled analysis of 13 European studies with 7,148 lung cancer patients and 14,208 control subjects showed that radon in the home also increases the risk of developing lung cancer. This applies in particular to those who smoke or have smoked but also to people who have never smoked at all.

According to the study, the risk of lung cancer increases with the long-term radon concentration in the home. Here, "long-term" refers to a period of 30 years. More precisely, the relative risk of lung cancer increases by 16% per 100 Becquerel per cubic metre (Bq/m³) for a long-term radon exposure. This means that the risk of lung cancer, which would arise purely mathematically without radon exposure, increases

• by 16% with 100 Bq/m³ of long-term radon exposure,
• by 32% with 200 Bq/m³,
• by 48% with 300 Bq/m³,

and so on. In the current and former homes of the participants in the 13 studies, the radon concentration was measured for at least six months. They were also all asked in detail about their lifelong smoking behaviour as well as other risk factors for lung cancer.