Radon and Health: Evidence, Policy and Politics

描述（由申请人提供）： 氡是一种天然存在的、普遍存在的呼吸道致癌物， 近世纪来，它一直是公共卫生研究和政策辩论的焦点。这 申请人要求两年的支持，以准备一本书的长度 氡与肺癌专题论文，重点是氡与肺癌之间的联系， 关于氡的科学证据以及法规和公众 降低矿工和普通民众风险的政策。这本书将 记录对肺癌风险的科学认识的进展 与氡暴露有关，并奠定了这一历史帐户的关键， 公共卫生和政策问题：一）保护地下矿工免受 暴露于不可接受的水平，包括持续的极高暴露 在“冷战”期间的早期美国和其他铀矿; 2） 保护早期矿工的道德义务与 需要对其风险进行研究; 3）循证医学的发展 降低矿山暴露的法规; 4）补偿矿工的方法 5）认识到室内氡的问题 以及随后对其风险进行定性的尝试; 6）专家的作用 委员会评估风险和使用定量风险评估 7）风险管理方法及其与 科学证据首席研究员Jonathan M. Samet，医学博士，女士， 通过他的研究， 对新墨西哥州地下铀矿工人的流行病学研究， 肺内科临床实践在该州，他的参与 在氡和肺癌的许多关键委员会，包括主持 电离辐射的生物效应（BEIR）第六委员会 研究理事会。球队还将包括夏洛特格扎克，MBA，谁有 与Samet博士合作开发了几本书长的手稿。的 研究小组将从Samets博士的大量文件中收集材料，进一步 文献检索，审查联邦和州政府的档案， 以及与研究人员、政策制定者和参与政治的 人物和倡导者。这项工作的预期产品包括 出版了一本书长的手稿，并提交给同行审查的扩展章节 文学氡与肺癌的历史教训 将继续作为使用科学证据的翔实例子， 几十年的公共卫生保护。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Radon, a naturally occurring and ubiquitous respiratory carcinogen, has been a focus for public health research and policy debate for nearly a century. This application requests two years of support for the preparation of a book-length monograph on radon and lung cancer, focusing on the linkages between scientific evidence on radon and the development of regulations and public policies to reduce risks to miners and the general population. The book will chronicle the advances in scientific understanding of the lung cancer risk associated with radon exposure and lay over this historical account the key public health and policy issues: I) protection of underground miners against exposure to unacceptable levels, including the very high exposures sustained in the early U.S. and other uranium mines during the "Cold War"; 2) the tension between the ethical imperative to protect the early miners and the need to carry out research on their risks; 3) the evolution of evidence-based regulations to lower exposures in mines; 4) approaches to compensating miners for radon-caused lung cancers; 5) recognition of the problem of indoor radon and the subsequent attempts to characterize its risks; 6) the role of expert committees in evaluating exposures and the use of quantitative risk assessment for this purpose; and 7) risk management approaches and their linkages to the scientific evidence. The Principal Investigator, Jonathan M. Samet, M.D., MS., has gained experience in each of these dimensions of the topic through his epidemiologic research on underground uranium miners in New Mexico, his clinical practice of pulmonary medicine in that state, and his participation in many key committees on radon and lung cancer, including chairing the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) VI Committee of the National Research Council. The team will also include Charlotte Gerczak, MbA., who has worked with Dr. Samet in developing several book-length manuscripts. The research team will collect materials from Dr. Samets extensive files, further literature searches, review of archives of the federal and state governments, and personal contacts with researchers, policy-makers, and involved political figures and advocates. Anticipated products from this effort include a published book-length manuscript and expanded chapters submitted to the peer reviewed literature. The lessons from the history of radon and lung cancer will remain as informative examples of the use of scientific evidence for public health protection for decades.