Concerted strategies are needed to better characterize radon exposure among NC residents, develop programs targeting high-risk residents to raise awareness and promote the use of radon remediation, and monitor radon associated lung cancer risk in NC as the effects of climate change continue to spread globally.
In this proposal, we will:
1. Characterize radon exposure, awareness, and testing among NC residents by race/ethnicity, gender, income, and neighborhood. We will integrate existing data from the BRFSS, EPA, and NC Department of Health and Human Services to generate predictive models identifying hot spots of radon exposure. We will
also examine how these outcomes vary by key social determinants of health
i.e., rural/urban, access to care, residential segregation
2. Examine the prevalence of radon mitigation approaches in NC by race/ethnicity, gender, income, neighborhood, and facility type (residential buildings, schools, hospitals). We will utilize existing data from the NC Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for residential buildings, and survey building managers for schools, large businesses, and hospitals to characterize use of radon mitigation approaches
3. Estimate the relative impact of smoking and radon exposure on lung cancer risk among NC residents. We will analyze incident lung cancer data from the NC Cancer Registry and examine the risk of lung cancer in regions characterized by high vs. low radon exposure, stratified by race/ethnicity and smoking status, to identify areas of high lung cancer risk.
Climate Change, Radon Exposure and Lung Cancer – Data Expeditions: Climate + Health (duke.edu)
###
19