Study Shows Radon Exposure Has Stronger Impact on Women & Children

Radon Exposure: Stronger Impact on Women & Children

While the cancer-causing effects of radon have been widely established, recent research has been dedicated to discovering more details about how radon operates as a carcinogen.

Mary Olson, a Staff Biologist and Southeast Director of the Nuclear Information and Research Service, wrote an article as a guest columnist in a USA Today paper, the Citizen-Times, disclosing the findings of her study – that radon-induced cancer disproportionately affects women and children.

Olson’s study consisted of an analysis of 60 years of radon exposure. She looked at survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, sufferers of radon exposure through medical procedures, and people who simply inhaled radon through the air in their homes.

Startlingly, she found that girls under five years old suffered twice as much cancer in their lifetimes as boys of the same age with the same dosage of radon. Similarly, in adult cases, women suffered 50 percent more fatal cancer than men – meaning for every two men that died from radon-induced cancer, three women suffered that same fate.

Considering such conclusive and dangerous findings, Olson’s message was clear – reduce radon exposure in any way possible, starting with lowering radon levels at home through testing and radon mitigation.

Radon testing and mitigation benefits all members of your family and can prevent the cancer that currently kills more than 21,000 Americans per year. To schedule an appointment for radon services or to find out more, contact your local National Radon Defense contractor.

You can find Olson’s full article here.