The Great Radon Flap
U.S. health authorities have once again leapt forward with a major health scare -- and once again
it has provoked charges from scientists who say the public is being subjected to health scares.
The latest scare has to do with radon-- an odourless, colourless gas that occurs in nature, which
is suspected of causing lung cancer. It can build up in indoor environments, especially in
geographical areas where there is abundant radon seepage from the ground.
A recent report from the U.S. National Research Council (NRC) has attributed up to 21,800 deaths a year in the United States from radon exposure, with smokers particularly vulnerable.
"Nevertheless, the estimated 15,400 or 21,800 deaths attributed to radon
in combination with cigarette smoking and radon alone in never-smokers
constitute an important public health problem," said the report. Some 10 years ago, the EPA
suggested that everyone test their homes for radon. They also recommend maximum radon levels
that some critics contend are excessively strict and go beyond what is necessary to protect
health.
But some scientists have disputed the report. Director of radiation protection for Boston University
Medical Center Victor Evdokimoff was quoted in the Boston Globe as saying the EPA uses "scare tactics."
' ''I still think that people should test their homes, but even radiation experts still don't believe that radon causes the number of lung cancer deaths that the EPA attributes to it,'' Evdokimoff said. ''The radon is maybe a small part of it, but it's not a major health problem.'''
One respected scientist, University of Pittsburgh professor emeritus of physics and environmental health, has conducted studies that do not support the report's conclusions. His data, involving radon measurements in more than 350,000 homes and a comparison of average radon levels in 1,728 U.S. counties, were compared with local lung cancer rates. The comparison showed that the higher the radon level, the less cancer there was.
Cohen, whose work has been praised by Nobel Laureates Rosalyn Yalow and Hans Bethe,
complained that the research council preparing the latest government report "didn't want to talk
to me."
Meanwhile, a group of scientists has challenged the integrity of the report, saying that its
preparation was the secretive work of an exclusive group and excluded scientists who had valid
contributions to make.
"...we urge scientists, science writers and reporters not to accept the report as
scientific consensus and to seek out the response of scientists who have been
excluded from the work of the committee., " said the group in a press release.
(SOURCES: Boston Globe Feb. 20/98; Reuters, Feb. 20/98;U.S. Newswire, Feb. 17/98)
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