Radon in the Home: Risk for Lung Cancer? Where is the media?

[PapaBear]

Dr. Steve,

Whatever happened to radon gas and/or (insert your favorite media scare)?

About 10 years ago, there was hype all over the news about how we were all going to die if we didn't test the radon gas levels coming from our basements. "They" told us to go out and buy radon testers, because we might as well be smoking cigarettes at a rate of 2 packs a day (or something like that), if this deadly gas wasn't eradicated. But I haven't heard anything about this scourge in years.

My actual question is, do you think media blitzes about this sort of thing are...

1: Actual major concerns, that fall by the wayside, when the press moves on to the next sexy horror

2: Corporate based medical scares, created to cause people to purchase products

3: Things that were originally (and honestly) thought to be serious problems, but were later found to be somewhat irrelevant

4: Other?

[Freitag]

Dr. Steve,

Whatever happened to radon gas and/or (insert your favorite media scare)?

About 10 years ago, there was hype all over the news about how we were all going to die if we didn't test the radon gas levels coming from our basements. "They" told us to go out and buy radon testers, because we might as well be smoking cigarettes at a rate of 2 packs a day (or something like that), if this deadly gas wasn't eradicated. But I haven't heard anything about this scourge in years.

My actual question is, do you think media blitzes about this sort of thing are...

1: Actual major concerns, that fall by the wayside, when the press moves on to the next sexy horror

2: Corporate based medical scares, created to cause people to purchase products

3: Things that were originally (and honestly) thought to be serious problems, but were later found to be somewhat irrelevant

4: Other?

They still test for Radon in NJ. It's usually built into most home inspections.

[topless_mike]

They still test for Radon in NJ. It's usually built into most home inspections.

correct. radon gas is byproduct of naturally decomposing soil, if i am correct.

[Dr Steve]

Dr. Steve,

Whatever happened to radon gas and/or (insert your favorite media scare)?

It's lost its cache' in the media, but is still a problem. Testing has just become more commonplace, I think, but people pretty much forget about it unless it's put in their faces, say in a home inspection.



About 10 years ago, there was hype all over the news about how we were all going to die if we didn't test the radon gas levels coming from our basements. "They" told us to go out and buy radon testers, because we might as well be smoking cigarettes at a rate of 2 packs a day (or something like that), if this deadly gas wasn't eradicated. But I haven't heard anything about this scourge in years.

Well, if you lived in Canada, the Gov't there just did a push to increase awareness of the problem. A recent study showed that 50% of people in VT who knew they had elevated radon levels did nothing about it. Exposure to radon accounts for more that 50% of the annual effective dose of natural radioactivity. radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer death after tobacco smoke (extrapolated from studies done on coal miners). Each year around 1100 deaths from lung cancer (3.3% of all deaths from lung cancer) are related to radon in the home in the UK.

The main push needs to be in mitigating the risk, especially in new construction. I definitely still believe in testing your home and installing the proper shit if levels are high in your home. The total risk is still low, but why take the chance? For society, it's been shown that spending the extra money on prevention is cost effective compared to the cost of the lung cancers that are caused.



My actual question is, do you think media blitzes about this sort of thing are...

1: Actual major concerns, that fall by the wayside, when the press moves on to the next sexy horror

2: Corporate based medical scares, created to cause people to purchase products

3: Things that were originally (and honestly) thought to be serious problems, but were later found to be somewhat irrelevant

4: Other?

I believe any of these can be true. For Radon, it's #1. For the asteroid Apophis (supposed to hit the earth next orbit, but won't) it's #3, same for the 2012 scares (#3) and Y2K. I'm trying to think of one that could fall into #2 but I'm having a mental block...I'm sure there are examples of that.

With regard to Radon, the next wave of journalism will happen when the media realizes that people are ignoring Radon in their homes. The Vermont study may spur some writing about how the noble media warned everyone of the risk but people have been lazy and ignored it.

we'll see.


someone call in a radon question to 423 343 8884, willya? it'd be a good topic for the show.



steve