J Toxicol Env Heal A
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J Toxicol Env Heal A · Apr 2006
Review Multicenter StudyAn overview of the North American residential radon and lung cancer case-control studies.
Lung cancer has held the distinction as the most common cancer type worldwide since 1985 (Parkin et al., 1993). Recent estimates suggest that lung cancer accounted for 1.2 million deaths worldwide in 2002, which represents 17.6% of the global cancer deaths (Parkin et al., 2005). During 2002, the highest lung cancer rates for men worldwide reportedly occurred in North America and Eastern Europe, whereas the highest rates in females occurred in North America and Northern Europe (Parkin et al., 2005). ⋯ Because the Iowa study calculated actual measures of exposure (concentration x time), its exposures estimates are presented in the form WLM(5-19) (Field et al., 2000a). WLM(5-19) represents the working level months for exposures that occurred 5-19 yr prior to diagnosis for cases or time of interview for control. Eleven WLM(5-19) is approximately equivalent to an average residential radon exposure of 4 pCi/L for 15 yr, assuming a 70% home occupancy.