Radon exposure and tumors of the central nervous system.
To review the published evidence of links between radon exposure and central nervous system tumors through a systematic review of the scientific literature.



We performed a thorough bibliographic search in Medline (PubMed) and EMBASE. We combined MeSH (Medical Subject Heading) terms and free text. We developed a purpose-designed scale to assess the quality of the included manuscripts.



We have included 18 studies, 8 performed on miners, 3 on the general population and 7 on children, and the results have been structured using this classification. The results are inconclusive. An association between radon exposure and central nervous system tumors has been observed in some studies on miners, but not in others. The results observed in the general adult population and in children are also mixed, with some research evincing a statistically significant association and others showing no effect.



We cannot conclude that there is a relationship between radon exposure and central nervous system tumors. The available studies are extremely heterogeneous in terms of design and populations studied. Further research is needed in this topic, particularly in the general population residing in areas with high levels of radon.
Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Spain; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain. Electronic address: alberto.ruano@usc.es.
Alberto
A
Ruano-Ravina
Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Spain.
Ana
A
Dacosta-Urbieta
Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Spain; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain; Preventive Medicine Unit, Santiago de Compostela Clinic University Hospital, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Spain.
Juan Miguel
JM
Barros-Dios
Department of Epidemiology, Center for Environmental Health and Technology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Karl T
KT
Kelsey
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015984:Causality; D016543:Central Nervous System Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008906:Mining; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D009656:North America / Q000453:epidemiology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D000069079:Radiation Exposure; D011886:Radon / Q000633:toxicity*; D012111:Residence Characteristics
C000615148:Radon-222; D011886:Radon
Central nervous system neoplasms; Radon; Radón; Revisión sistemática; Sistema nervioso central; Systematic review