Radon concentrations in residential housing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
A measurement of indoor radon (222Rn) concentrations in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was carried out to assess the variability of exposure expected among atomic bomb survivors. Two hundred dwellings, mostly belonging to members of the fixed cohort of atomic bomb survivors under study by the Radiation Effects Research Foundations, were selected for this measurement. The geometric mean values of the radon concentrations for 100 dwellings in Hiroshima and 99 dwellings in Nagasaki measured by Track-Etch Type SF detectors were 56.8 Bq m-3 and 28.5 Bq m-3, respectively. No statistically significant difference was observed between lung cancer mortalities in the low-dose range in the two cities. However, apparent values of the mortality rate for low dose range in Hiroshima are consistently greater than those in Nagasaki. The exposure to radon and its progeny and the atomic bomb radiation effect might have some cooperative effects on the lung cancer incidence.
Yonehara
H
H
Department of Experimental Radiology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Japan.
Aoyama
T
T
Radford
E P
EP
Kato
H
H
Sakanoue
M
M
D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000009:adverse effects; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D009689:Nuclear Warfare; D011886:Radon / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*
D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive; D011886:Radon