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Daniel J. Steck,¹ R. William Field,² and Charles F. Lynch²

¹Department of Physics, St. John's University, Collegeville, MN 56321 USA
²Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242 USA

Abstract

We measured radon (²²²Rn) concentrations in Iowa and Minnesota and found that unusually high annual average radon concentrations occur outdoors in portions of central North America. In some areas, outdoor concentrations exceed the national average indoor radon concentration. The general spatial patterns of outdoor radon and indoor radon are similar to the spatial distribution of radon progeny in the soil. Outdoor radon exposure in this region can be a substantial fraction of an individual's total radon exposure and is highly variable across the population. Estimated lifetime effective dose equivalents for the women participants in a radon-related lung cancer study varied by a factor of two at the median dose, 8 mSv, and ranged up to 60 mSv (6 rem) . Failure to include these doses can reduce the statistical power of epidemiologic studies that examine the lung cancer risk associated with residential radon exposure. Key words: outdoor exposures, radiation, radon. Environ Health Perspect 107:123-127 (1999) . [Online 12 January 1999]

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1999/107p123-127steck/ abstract.html

Address correspondence to D.J. Steck, Science Center 107, Department of Physics, St. John's University, Collegeville, MN 56321 USA.

We thank Gayle Buckner, Christine Brus, Eileen Fisher, Kathryn McKusker, Daniel Olson, Stephanie Rosazza, and Brian Smith for their assistance and express special gratitude to the study participants who have made this research possible. We thank Tom Borak, Jay Lubin, and Carol Theisen for their suggestions.

NIEHS grants R01 ES05653 and P30 ES05605 and EPA grant 12200-42141-01 supported this research. This report is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the NIEHS, NIH, or EPA.

Received 3 April 1998 ; accepted 18 September 1998.