Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 6, 1995                   TAG: 9506060122
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

STUDY LINKS RADON IN HOMES TO SOME LUNG CANCER DEATHS

Up to one-tenth of U.S. lung cancer deaths may be caused by radon gas in homes, according to an analysis of how the radioactive chemical affects miners.

A study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute said radon, seeping into homes from the ground, may cause about 14,400 lung cancer deaths in the United States, and may be responsible for up to 30 percent of lung cancers among nonsmokers.

The conclusions are based on an analysis of 11 studies of lung cancer among hard-rock miners who were exposed to radon while at work. By relating the rate of exposure to radon among miners and their rate of lung cancer, the researchers were able to estimate the number of lung cancers that may be caused by residential radon exposure.

But the authors added that the estimates ``should be interpreted with caution'' because miners also are exposed to other chemicals, such as diesel exhaust, that could affect their lung cancer rates.

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that escapes from underground rocks and soils. Radioactive emissions from radon are known to affect the cells lining the lungs when the gas is breathed in.

All people are exposed, to some extent, to the gas, but experts believe it poses a lung cancer risk only when it reaches certain concentrations. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that homeowners vent areas where radon concentrations reach 4 picocuries per liter of air.

Based on the miners' experience and the estimated radon levels in American homes, the radioactive gas in residences causes about 4,700 lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers and about 9,700 among smokers, said Jay H. Lubin, a National Cancer Institute researcher.

About 149,000 Americans died of lung cancer in 1993, and about 85 percent of those deaths were attributed to smoking.

Lubin said the study suggested strongly that residents in homes with more than 4 picocuries per liter of radon do have a sharply increased risk of lung cancer.

``You can never totally eliminate radon from a home, but you can reduce the level,'' he said. And by reducing the level, people could reduce the risk.

Jonathan M. Samet of Johns Hopkins University, an expert on radon, said the new study ``supports the idea that everybody should test for radon.''

Lubin said radon levels should be measured over several months because the level of gas can change from season to season.

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