A new scientific study shows that Radon is a contributing factor in 12% of lung cancer cases in Norway.
The study, published in the Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association, concerns the connection between the occurrence of lung cancer, and the amount of radon concentration in Norwegian homes.
The main author was Doctor Christina Søyland Hassfjell, the former senior advisor to the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority.
Hassfjell based the lung cancer risk factor on a number of European studies of patients, and control groups, linking them to the largest data set of radon measurements in Norwegian homes.
Researchers found that radon is a contributing factor in 12% of annual of lung cancer cases. In 2015, there were 373 such cases in Norway.
The researchers believe that relatively simple radon-reducing measures in homes could reduce the incidence of radon-associated lung cancer by about 100 cases per year.
They also point out that radon reducing measures will reduce the risk for smokers and former smokers to a greater degree than for those who have never smoked.
The internet has a number of informative radon reduction sites both for Norway and internationally, and one needs simply write ‘reducing radon in the home’, and then your country name to be led to them.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
