Lung cancer deaths and indoor radon exposure
Bulgarian Medical Journal, 16, 2022,№ 3, 32-36.
N. Chobanova1, P. Dimitrov2,3, K. Ivanova1
1 National Centre of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection ‒ Sofia
2 National Center of Public Health and Analyses ‒ Sofia
3 South-West University “Neofit Rilski” ‒ Blagoevgrad
Abstract. Radon is a significant source of radiation exposure to the general public. A large number of studies have reported that exposure to indoor radon, even at low concentrations, is associated with lung cancer in the general population. Lung cancer deaths attributable to residential radon exposure was analyzed for the whole country and by regions, as well as the combined effect of smoking habits and radon. To determine the proportion of lung cancer deaths in the general population that may be due to exposure to the radon population, population attributive risk (PAR) was calculated as well as excess relative risk (ERR). The PAR values varied from 10.7% to 25.4% between regions. 15.3% of all lung cancer deaths in 2015 in Bulgaria were due to radon exposure.
Key words: screening, radon, lung cancer, attributive risk
Address for correspondence: Аssoc. Prof. Nina Chobanova, MD, PhD,, e-mail: n.chobanova@ncrrp.org