In the 1930s, radon itself wasn’t yet recognized as a danger for children in the way we understand today. Here’s the historical context:
Lack of Awareness in the 1930s
Scientific knowledge was limited. While miners in Europe (especially in the Ore Mountains) had shown higher rates of lung disease and cancer since the 19th century, the connection to radon gas and its radioactive decay products was not clearly understood until later.
Public health awareness was minimal. Families and schools did not know that radon could accumulate indoors. There were no testing kits, no mitigation systems, and no public education campaigns
Indirect Impacts on Children
Mining communities: In areas where fathers worked in uranium or pitchblende mines, radon exposure was very high. Miners often carried radioactive dust home on their clothes, which could expose children indirectly.
Homes and schools: Many buildings (especially basements or ground-floor rooms) likely had elevated radon levels, but this went unnoticed. Children may have been breathing it daily, but no one was measuring or linking it to long-term health.
Health outcomes: If children were exposed, the health effects (like lung cancer) would not appear until decades later. There are no direct 1930s medical records attributing children’s illnesses to radon, but today’s science suggests that exposures back then could have set the stage for adult cancers.
When Things Changed
It wasn’t until the 1950s–1960s that radon’s role in lung cancer risk became more clearly established, especially through studies of uranium miners in the U.S. and Europe.
Children, being more sensitive to radiation, were later recognized as a particularly vulnerable group — but that recognition came much later.
In short: In the 1930s, children were almost certainly exposed to radon (in homes, schools, and mining regions), but no one knew it. The danger was silent and invisible, and its long-term effects weren’t discovered until mid-20th century research made the connection.