County-level radon exposure and all-cause mortality risk among Medicare beneficiaries.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Radon is an inert gas formed from the decay of naturally-occurring materials in the earth's crust. It infiltrates into homes from soil, water, and construction materials. Its decay products are radionuclides, which attach to ambient particles. Residential radon is one of the leading risk factors for lung cancer. The scarce evidence for associations with other mortality causes originates mostly from occupational studies.

Methods

In a cohort study with 14 years of follow-up (2000-2013), we evaluated the association between chronic radon exposure and all-cause mortality, and explored whether there are subpopulations who are more vulnerable to radon effects. We included 87,296,195 person-years of follow-up from all Medicare beneficiaries in the Mid-Atlantic and Northe

SUBMITTER: Yitshak-Sade M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6679989 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature