Editing Radon (section)

=== In mines ===
{{sup|222}}Rn decay products have been classified by the [[International Agency for Research on Cancer]] as being [[carcinogenic]] to humans,<ref>{{cite web |access-date=2008-06-26 |url=http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_1_3x_Known_and_Probable_Carcinogens.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031213030702/http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_1_3x_Known_and_Probable_Carcinogens.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=2003-12-13 |title=Known and Probable Carcinogens |publisher=[[American Cancer Society]]}}</ref> and as a gas that can be inhaled, lung cancer is a particular concern for people exposed to elevated levels of radon for sustained periods. During the 1940s and 1950s, when safety standards requiring expensive ventilation in mines were not widely implemented,<ref>{{cite book |title=A Century of X-rays and Radioactivity in Medicine |author=Mould, Richard Francis |date=1993 |isbn=978-0-7503-0224-1 |publisher=CRC Press}}</ref> radon exposure was linked to lung cancer among non-smoking miners of uranium and other hard rock materials in what is now the Czech Republic, and later among miners from the Southwestern US<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{Cite news |issn=0040-781X |title=Uranium Miners' Cancer |magazine=Time |access-date=2008-06-26 |date=1960-12-26 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,895156,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115070225/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,895156,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 15, 2009 }}|{{cite news |url=http://www.irsn.fr/FR/Larecherche/publications-documentation/Publications_documentation/BDD_publi/DRPH/LEADS/Documents/IRPA10-P2A-56.pdf |author=Tirmarche M. |author2=Laurier D. |author3=Mitton N. |author4=Gelas J. M. |title=Lung Cancer Risk Associated with Low Chronic Radon Exposure: Results from the French Uranium Miners Cohort and the European Project |access-date=2009-07-07 |archive-date=December 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211219230252/https://www.irsn.fr/FR/Larecherche/publications-documentation/Publications_documentation/BDD_publi/DRPH/LEADS/Documents/IRPA10-P2A-56.pdf |url-status=dead }}|{{Cite journal |doi=10.1001/jama.1989.03430050045024 |volume=262 |last1=Roscoe |first1=R. J. |last2=Steenland |first2=K. |last3=Halperin |first3=W. E. |last4=Beaumont |first4=J. J. |last5=Waxweiler |first5=R. J. |title=Lung cancer mortality among nonsmoking uranium miners exposed to radon daughters| journal=[[Journal of the American Medical Association]] |date=1989-08-04 |pmid=2746814 |issue=5 |pages=629–633}}}}</ref> and [[South Australia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 3553403 |title = Radon Daughter Exposures at the Radium Hill Uranium Mine and Lung Cancer Rates among Former Workers, 1952–87 |last1 = Woodward |first1 = Alistair |date = 1991-07-01 |journal = [[Cancer Causes & Control]] |doi = 10.1007/BF00052136 |pmid = 1873450|volume = 2 |issue = 4 |pages = 213–220 |last2 = Roder |first2 = David |last3 = McMichael |first3 = Anthony J. |last4 = Crouch |first4 = Philip |last5 = Mylvaganam |first5 = Arul|s2cid = 9664907 }}</ref> Despite these hazards being known in the early 1950s,<ref>{{cite news |title = Uranium mine radon gas proves health danger (1952) |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3853075/uranium_mine_radon_gas_proves_health/ |newspaper = The Salt Lake Tribune |date = 27 September 1952 |page = 13 |access-date = 2015-12-22}}</ref> this [[occupational hazard]] remained poorly managed in many mines until the 1970s. During this period, several entrepreneurs opened former uranium mines in the US to the general public and advertised alleged health benefits from breathing radon gas underground. Health benefits claimed included relief from pain, sinus problems, asthma, and arthritis,<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{cite news |title = Radon gas mine health benefits advertisement (1953) |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3869275/radon_gas_mine_health_benefits/ |newspaper = Greeley Daily Tribune |date = 27 March 1953 |page = 4 |access-date = 2015-12-22}}|{{cite web |title = Clipping from The Montana Standard |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3869277/the_montana_standard/ |website = Newspapers.com |access-date = 2015-12-22}}}}</ref> but the government banned such advertisements in 1975,<ref>{{cite web |title = Government bans Boulder mine ads about radon health benefits (1975) |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3869269/government_bans_boulder_mine_ads_about/ |website = Newspapers.com |access-date = 2015-12-22}}</ref> and subsequent works have debated the truth of such claimed health effects, citing the documented ill effects of radiation on the body.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Salak |first=Kara |author2=Nordeman, Landon |year=2004 |title=59631: Mining for Miracles |url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0401/feature7/index.html |url-status=dead |journal=National Geographic |publisher=National Geographic Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080124233142/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0401/feature7/index.html |archive-date=January 24, 2008 |access-date=June 26, 2008}}</ref>

Since that time, ventilation and other measures have been used to reduce radon levels in most affected mines that continue to operate. In recent years, the average annual exposure of uranium miners has fallen to levels similar to the concentrations inhaled in some homes. This has reduced the risk of occupationally-induced cancer from radon, although health issues may persist for those who are currently employed in affected mines and for those who have been employed in them in the past.<ref name="Darby05">{{cite journal |author=Darby, S. |author2=Hill, D. |author3=Doll, R. |date=2005 |title=Radon: a likely carcinogen at all exposures |journal=[[Annals of Oncology]] |volume=12 |issue=10 |pages=1341–1351 |doi=10.1023/A:1012518223463 |pmid=11762803 |doi-access=free}}</ref> As the relative risk for miners has decreased, so has the ability to detect excess risks among that population.<ref name="UNSCEAR06">{{cite web |url=http://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/publications/2006_1.html |title=UNSCEAR 2006 Report Vol. I |publisher=United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation UNSCEAR 2006 Report to the General Assembly, with scientific annexes}}</ref>
[[File:Uranium waste near Rifle, Colorado.jpg|thumb|A tailing pond near [[Rifle, Colorado]]. Waste from uranium mining has been allowed to settle and is exposed to the atmosphere, leading to the release of radon gas into the air and decay products into the groundwater.<ref name="OLM" />]]
Residues from processing of uranium ore can also be a source of radon. Radon resulting from the high radium content in uncovered dumps and [[Uranium tailings|tailing]] ponds<ref name="USPHS90" /> can be easily released into the atmosphere and affect people living in the vicinity.<ref>{{cite journal
 | url= http://www.rad-journal.org/helper/download.php?file=../papers/RadJ.2016.03.041.pdf
 | title= Radon exhalation of the uranium tailings dump Digmai, Tajikistan
 | author1= Schläger, M. |author2=Murtazaev, K. |author3= Rakhmatuloev, B. |author4= Zoriy, P.|author5= Heuel-Fabianek, B.
 | year= 2016
 | journal= Radiation and Applications
 | volume=1 |pages=222–228
 | doi=10.21175/RadJ.2016.03.041
 | doi-access=free
}}</ref> The release of radon may be mitigated by covering tailings with soil or clay, though other decay products may leach into [[groundwater]] supplies.<ref name="OLM">{{Cite web|url=https://www.energy.gov/lm/articles/uranium-mining-and-milling-near-rifle-colorado |website=Office of Legacy Management |via=[[Energy.gov]] |date=April 19, 2016 |title=Uranium Mining and Milling near Rifle, Colorado }}</ref>

Non-uranium mines may pose higher risks of radon exposure, as workers are not continuously monitored for radiation, and regulations specific to uranium mines do not apply. A review of radon level measurements across non-uranium mines found the highest concentrations of radon in non-metal mines, such as [[phosphorus]] and [[salt mines]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chen |first=Jing |date=April 2023 |title=A Review of Radon Exposure in Non-uranium Mines—Estimation of Potential Radon Exposure in Canadian Mines |journal=Health Physics |language=en |volume=124 |issue=4 |pages=244–256 |doi=10.1097/HP.0000000000001661 |issn=1538-5159 |pmc=9940829 |pmid=36607249}}</ref> However, older or abandoned uranium mines without ventilation may still have extremely high radon levels.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Miklyaev |first1=Petr S. |last2=Petrova |first2=Tatiana B. |last3=Maksimovich |first3=Nikolay G. |last4=Krasikov |first4=Alexey V. |last5=Klimshin |first5=Aleksey V. |last6=Shchitov |first6=Dmitriy V. |last7=Sidyakin |first7=Pavel A. |last8=Tsebro |first8=Dmitriy N. |last9=Meshcheriakova |first9=Olga Yu. |date=2024-02-01 |title=Comparative studies on radon seasonal variations in various underground environments: Cases of abandoned Beshtaugorskiy uranium mine and Kungur Ice Cave |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0265931X23002394 |journal=Journal of Environmental Radioactivity |volume=272 |pages=107346 |doi=10.1016/j.jenvrad.2023.107346 |pmid=38043218 |bibcode=2024JEnvR.27207346M |issn=0265-931X}}</ref>

In addition to lung cancer, researchers have theorized a possible increased risk of [[leukemia]] due to radon exposure. Empirical support from studies of the general population is inconsistent; a study of uranium miners found a correlation between radon exposure and [[chronic lymphocytic leukemia]],<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=16759978 |title=Incidence of leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma in Czech uranium miners: a case-cohort study |last1=Rericha |first1=V. |last2=Kulich |first2=M. |last3=Rericha |first3=R. |last4=Shore |first4=D. L. |last5=Sandler |first5=D. P. |date=2007 |volume=114 |journal=[[Environmental Health Perspectives]] |issue=6 |pmc=1480508 |pages=818–822 |doi=10.1289/ehp.8476}}</ref> and current research supports a link between indoor radon exposure and poor health outcomes (i.e., an increased risk of lung cancer or childhood [[leukemia]]).<ref name="Nunes-2022">{{Cite journal |last1=Nunes |first1=Leonel J. R. |last2=Curado |first2=António |last3=da Graça |first3=Luís C. C. |last4=Soares |first4=Salete |last5=Lopes |first5=Sérgio Ivan |date=2022-03-25 |title=Impacts of Indoor Radon on Health: A Comprehensive Review on Causes, Assessment and Remediation Strategies |journal=International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |volume=19 |issue=7 |pages=3929 |doi=10.3390/ijerph19073929 |issn=1661-7827 |pmc=8997394 |pmid=35409610 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Legal actions taken by those involved in nuclear industries, including miners, millers, transporters, nuclear site workers, and their respective unions have resulted in compensation for those affected by radon and radiation exposure under programs such as the [[compensation scheme for radiation-linked diseases]] (in the United Kingdom)<ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=shCh5KzE7xEC&q=%22compensation+scheme+for+radiation+linked+diseases%22&pg=PA20 |title=The Redfern Inquiry into human tissue analysis in UK nuclear facilities |date=2010-11-16 |publisher=The Stationery Office |isbn=9780102966183 |location= |pages= |language=en |quote= |via=}}</ref> and the [[Radiation Exposure Compensation Act]] (in the United States).<ref>{{cite web |last1= |date=July 21, 2004 |title=An Overview of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-108shrg25152/html/CHRG-108shrg25152.htm |access-date=August 28, 2024 |website=www.gpo.gov |publisher=United States Senate and the U.S. Government Printing Office}}</ref>