New Radon Study Shows A Link Between
High Levels Of Radon In The Home And Childhood Leukaemia
 A
recently published (July 2008) radon study conducted
Dr Raaschou-Nielsen O and colleges of the Institute
for Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen suggests a direct
link between children who live in homes with high levels
of radon and an increased risk from acute lymphoblastic
leukemia during childhood.
Acute
lymphocytic leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood
and bone marrow. - The spongy tissue inside bones where
blood cells are made.
It's called acute leukaemia because it progresses rapidly
and affects immature blood cells, rather than mature
ones. Lymphocytic leukaemia affects a group of white
blood cells called lymphocytes, which normally fight
infection. Acute lymphocyte leukaemia is the most common
type of cancer in children; it can also occurs in adults
and develops quickly if not treated, but will usually
responds well to treatment.
Higher
rates of childhood cancer, and particularly leukemia,
have been observed in geographic regions with higher
levels of radon -- a natural radioactive gas that emanates
from soils and can concentrate inside houses. Yet, studies
assessing links between breathing radon gas and the
risk for childhood cancer have in the past yielded mixed
results.
Against
this backdrop, Dr. Ole Raaschou-Nielsen of the Institute
for Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen, and colleagues
looked at the lifetime radon exposures of 2,400 children
who had been diagnosed with leukaemia, CNS humor or
malignant lymphomas between 1968 and 1994, and 6,697
cancer-free children.
All
the children in the study were born and living in Denmark,
and were age 15 or younger. One-year radon measurements
from regions in which the children lived were used to
predict cumulative radon exposure.The researchers found
that children exposed to "intermediate" levels
of radon had a 21 percent higher risk of developing
Acute lymphocytic leukaemia relative to children exposed
to the lowest levels of radon. Children with the highest
radon exposures had a 63 percent greater risk of Acute
lymphocytic leukaemia relative to those with the least
exposure.
These
associations held up in further analyses that factored
in other characteristics potentially associated with
increased cancer risk, such as mother's age, birth order,
traffic density around the home, electromagnetic field
exposures, and the building type of each home.
To
date, only four previous studies have ever evaluated
acute lymphoblastic leukaemia among children in association
to radon gas levels in individual homes. While results
from these studies are mixed, clearly Dr Raaschou-Nielsen
O conclusions are worrying for any parent who's home
is located within a radon affected area in the UK.
While the risk of lung cancer from living with elevated
levels of radon gas is a scientific fact, the link between
radon and childhood leukemia is less clear. Alphalab
have found other studies contradicting some of Dr Oal
Raaschou-Nielsen's findings and we have included the
links below to enable you as a parent to evaluate the
risks and draw your own conclusions from the studies.
Reuters
News Article - Dr Ole Raaschou-Nielsen study
"Home
radon may have tie to childhood leukemia"
A
2000 study by Dr Lofman from the Department of Medical
Informatics in Linking Sweden
"Childhood
leukaemia in areas with different radon levels:a spatial
and temporal analysis using GIS"
Reuters
News Article - UK study finding no evidence for a link
between childhood cancer and radon exposure
"British Study Finds No Radon, Childhood Cancer
Link"
The
dangers of developing lung cancer from elevated levels
of radon gas are well documented yet only a few studies
have every been conducted into links between radon and
childhood cancers. Clearly the priority is to encompass
much wider and more in-depth studies into the correlation
between radon gas and childhood cancers, with education
the key to saving lives.
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