Hassfjell Christina Søyland, Grimsrud Tom Kristian, Standring William J F, Tretli Steinar
Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2017 Aug 21;137(14-15). doi: 10.4045/tidsskr.16.0127. Print 2017 Aug 22.
Radioactive radon gas is generated from uranium and thorium in underlying rocks and seeps into buildings. The gas and its decay products emit carcinogenic radiation and are regarded as the second most important risk factor for lung cancer after active tobacco smoking. The average radon concentration in Norwegian homes is higher than in most other Western countries. From a health and cost perspective, it is important to be able to quantify the risk of lung cancer posed by radon exposure.
We estimated the radon-related risk of lung cancer in Norway based on risk estimates from the largest pooled analysis of European case-control studies, combined with the hitherto largest set of data on radon concentration measurements in Norwegian homes.
Based on these estimates, we calculate that radon is a contributory factor in 12 % of all cases of lung cancer annually, assuming an average radon concentration of 88 Bq/m3 in Norwegian homes. For 2015, this accounted for 373 cases of lung cancer, with an approximate 95 % confidence interval of 145 – 682.
Radon most likely contributes to a considerable number of cases of lung cancer. Since most cases of radon-associated lung cancer involve smokers or former smokers, a reduction of the radon concentration in homes could be a key measure to reduce the risk, especially for persons who are unable to quit smoking. The uncertainty in the estimated number of radon-associated cases can be reduced through a new national radon mapping study with an improved design.
放射性氡气由地下岩石中的铀和钍产生，并渗入建筑物。这种气体及其衰变产物会发出致癌辐射，被视为仅次于主动吸烟的第二大肺癌风险因素。挪威家庭中的平均氡浓度高于大多数其他西方国家。从健康和成本角度来看，能够量化氡暴露导致肺癌的风险非常重要。
我们基于欧洲病例对照研究最大规模汇总分析得出的风险估计值，并结合挪威家庭中迄今最大的氡浓度测量数据集，估算了挪威与氡相关的肺癌风险。
基于这些估计值，我们计算得出，假设挪威家庭中氡的平均浓度为88贝克勒尔/立方米，氡是每年所有肺癌病例中12%的致病因素。就2015年而言，这相当于373例肺癌病例，其近似95%置信区间为145 - 682例。
氡很可能导致了相当数量的肺癌病例。由于大多数与氡相关的肺癌病例涉及吸烟者或曾经吸烟者，降低家庭中的氡浓度可能是降低风险的关键措施，尤其是对于那些无法戒烟的人。通过设计改进的新的全国性氡测绘研究，可以降低氡相关病例估计数量的不确定性。
