Residential Radon Exposure and Lung Cancer: Variation in Risk Estimates Using Alternative Exposure Scenarios
Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology 12, 197-203 (2002)


The BEIR VI Committee concluded (NRC, 1999) that the power of a residential radon study to detect an excess risk could be augmented by targeting populations that have high radon exposures and low residential mobility. The ability of the IRLCS to detect an association was enhanced by a study population characterized by low residential mobility and the potential for high radon exposure (Field et al., 2000).

However, the findings of this paper indicate that the power of a residential radon study to detect an excess risk is also enhanced by linking spatially disparate radon concentrations with the subject’s retrospective mobility, especially when live subjects can supply mobility information. In addition, our findings suggest that the dosimetry model used by some of the previous residential radon studies may have underestimated the true risk posed by radon progeny exposure.