LUNG CANCER DEATHS IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA CAUSED BY RADON
Relative Risk Factors Derived From Uranium Mines in Czechoslovakia
Radon Exposure Category (WLM)
Average Exposure (WLM) [1]
Lung Cancers Observed per 1000 [3]
Lung Cancers Expected per 1000 [4]
Excess Lung Cancers per 1000 EC = [3] - [4]
Relative Risk Factor (Excess cancers per WLM per 1000 cancers expected) RRF = ( EC x 1000 ) / ( [1] x [3] )
under 50
39
33.2
16.6
16.6
26
50-99
80
21.2
13.2
8.0
8
100-149
124
34.0
13.8
20.2
12
150-199
174
69.8
15.2
54.6
21
200-299
242
76.3
15.7
60.6
16
300-399
343
102.3
17.4
84.9
14
400-499
488
117.9
16.5
101.4
13
over 600
716
138.9
17.2
698.8
10
Total
900
68
10.29
57.71
11
Notes
The data for this table are taken from "Lung Cancer in Uranium Miners and Long-Term Exposure to Radon Daughters", by J. Sevc and E. Kunz, Health Physics, vol. 30, pp.433-437, 1976.
These miners received much less of an accumulated dose than the Colorado Plateau miners (see Tables 1 and 2 -- Exhibits 5 and 6). In fact, most of the entries in this table fit into the first three exposure categories in Tables 1 and 2.
In this Table, the overall average of 11 excess cancers per WLM per 1000 cancers expected is almost twice the overall average risk factor from Table 2, reflecting a higher risk per WLM among lower-exposure groups.
Moreover, the average risk factor of 11 given here (the last entry in the last column) does not reflect the low-exposure data given in this Table which indicates a risk factor more than twice as large for exposures under 50 WLM.
In the last column, the factor of 2 difference between the first entry (26) and the other entries (average = 13.4) should be compared with the factor of 2 difference in Table 2 between the first two entries in the last column of that Table.
