More studies to come
While the study shows a statistically significant link between radon exposure and childhood leukemia, Bozigar said it ' s only a start.
" Our study design only allows us to identify statistical associations and to raise hypotheses, so studies that can better determine whether radon exposure causes childhood leukemia are needed."
Looking forward, Bozigar said, " We are working on many different radon studies, and we are continuing to find harmful effects not limited to the lungs in adults. We will have more to share in the coming months and years as our studies are published."
What is radon?
Radon is a radioactive gas that can ' t be seen, smelled, or tasted.
It is created when uranium in the ground decays and Utah has high levels of uranium around the state. One in three Utah homes has dangerous radon levels— and those numbers may be undercounted due to infrequent testing.
The second leading cause of lung cancer
Radon causes 21,000 lung cancer deaths per year— and thousands more diagnoses.
Because radon goes undetected by our senses and because lung cancer symptoms are often initially mild, most people do not get diagnosed until the disease has significantly progressed.
What you can do to protect your loved ones
Radon-induced lung cancer can almost entirely be avoided if Utahns are proactive in testing for radon in their homes. Leading health organizations recommend testing for radon every two years.
UtahRadon. org makes testing your home easy and provides one free test for every Utah home. The test kit includes shipping, the test, lab fees, and the analysis. There is no cost to test your home.
The only way to detect radon is to test for it. UtahRadon. org is offering 1 free test kit per household.( Photo: Alpha Energy Laboratories)
Source: https:// www. ksl. com / article / 51310407 / study-links-radon-gas-to-childhood-leukemia