title: Radon and COPD mortality in the American Cancer Society Cohort.
abstract: Although radon gas is a known cause of lung cancer, the association between residential radon and mortality from non-malignant respiratory disease has not been well characterised. The Cancer Prevention Study-II is a large prospective cohort study of nearly 1.2 million Americans recruited in 1982. Mean county-level residential radon concentrations were linked to study participants' residential address based on their ZIP code at enrolment (mean ± SD 53.5 ± 38.0 Bq · m(-3)). Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for non-malignant respiratory disease mortality associated with radon concentrations. After necessary exclusions, a total of 811,961 participants in 2,754 counties were included in the analysis. Throughout 2006, there were a total of 28,300 non-malignant respiratory disease deaths. Radon was significantly associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mortality (HR per 100 Bq · m(-3) 1.13, 95% CI 1.05-1.21). There was a significant positive linear trend in COPD mortality with increasing categories of radon concentrations (p<0.05). Findings suggest residential radon may increase COPD mortality. Further research is needed to confirm this finding and to better understand possible complex inter-relationships between radon, COPD and lung cancer.
authors: Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada. mturner@uottawa.ca
authors: Michelle C
authors: MC
authors: Turner
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Krewski
authors: Yue
authors: Y
authors: Chen
authors: C Arden
authors: CA
authors: Pope
authors: Susan M
authors: SM
authors: Gapstur
authors: Michael J
authors: MJ
authors: Thun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000570:American Cancer Society; D002423:Cause of Death / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000401:mortality*; D011886:Radon / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D011886:Radon