5 Causes of Lung Cancer in Non-Smokers
 

10th leading cause of US cancer deaths: non-smoker lung cancer

MEDICINENET - May 18, 2012

While most lung cancer deaths are smokers, 13 percent are NOT. That's why Donna Summer's family had to stress second-hand smoke was her demise. So keep that in mind if you can limit your time around smoke-filed rooms and smog areas. --Ed.

While cigarette smoking is an undisputed cause of lung cancer, not all cases of lung cancer occur in smokers or former smokers. Each year, over 170,000 Americans develop lung cancer, and approximately ten per cent of lung cancers, or 17,000 cases, occur in non-smokers. Although not every non-smoker suffering from lung cancer will have an identifiable risk factor for development of the disease, a number of conditions and circumstances have been identified that will increase a non-smoker's chance of developing lung cancer.... [Read More]

Re: 5 Causes of Lung Cancer in Non-Smokers
 

No joke. After living in my house for 5 years I decided to test for radon. I had 81.7 pCi/L, about 20 times higher than the action level (4.0 for homes). :eek:
After the mitigation system it is now 1.x

Re: 5 Causes of Lung Cancer in Non-Smokers
 

I would be interested in learning how to remediate radon. It is endemic in California. My home tested borderline at 2.0 but I would still like it lower. What was your cost and did you use a contractor?

Re: 5 Causes of Lung Cancer in Non-Smokers
 

I read that a combination of a high concentration of Radon Gas and being a Smoker is almost 100% certainty that you will develop Lung Cancer. Most of the homes around me have Radon and I'd say a majority of home owners have no idea the danger lurking in their homes.

I had mine tested when I bought it, and it passed with a minimal reading of 1.1 picocuries per liter. or pCi/L. The old owners had a Radon mitigation system put in when they had it tested and it came in at 5.0 pCi/L.

My real estate agent said she has seen homes with readings as high as 60 pCi/L. Anything over at 4.0 pCi/L or higher, you really need to put in a mitigation system in the house. They cut a hole in the foundation and insert a pipe below the concrete floor. It is attached to a fan that creates a vacuum that keeps the area under your home in a constant state of negative air pressure. The air from under the home is exhausted through a pipe usually running side by side with the down pipe of your gutter.

Cost of the RMS installed is less than $1000. And it runs me around $10 a month in electricity.

I have asked more people than I can count if they ever had their home tested and they were clueless to the test let alone the danger of high concentrations of radon gas in their homes. Age of the home is meaningless old or new you can have Radon Gas in your home. In fact because of how energy efficient or should I say air sealed newer homes are the more concerned you should be with Radon Gas.

Although I have gotten really good at spotting radon mitigation systems on homes. They're kind of tough to see if you not sure what to look for. You see a RMS pop up in your neighborhood get your home tested if not sooner. The inspector told me that everyone should have their homes tested every three to five years if radon is a problem in your area. You may pass this year and five years from now you could have a radon problem.

The company places a box (meter) in your basement plugs it in and comes back in a week and prints out the results. If I remember the print out the test meter took air readings every fifteen minutes or a half hour over a week and averaged out the readings. I think I paid around $100 for the test.

I would recommend using a reputable company in your town and not one of the cheap $10 test kits you can get at the store.

Re: 5 Causes of Lung Cancer in Non-Smokers
 

Here are photos of my system. I paid $650 and it comes with a 5 year warranty from the installer.
-First step was to seal every corner of the basement.
-My home was built with a PVC 'stub' going into the slab, which saved a lot of time and cost (and dust) from cutting a hole as a suction point.
-The sump hole was covered with clear plexiglass and sealed as well.
-The photos show the rest. it's nothing but a fan sucking air through a pvc pipe and venting outside up to roof level.
-After install, a 1/4" hole was drilled in my basement slab on the opposite side of the suction point to check for suction, and there was plenty!
-A week later, the installer came by to re-test (took about 3 days to perform the test and a few more to get the results)

Re: 5 Causes of Lung Cancer in Non-Smokers
 

Thank you for that information. A house measuring 80 is quite unsettling. I would want an image of my lungs as a precaution.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21668954/

Re: 5 Causes of Lung Cancer in Non-Smokers
 

The internets say she suspected 9/11 dust as being the culprit.

There's been a lot of people who got sick (and died) from whatever was in the air that day.

Re: 5 Causes of Lung Cancer in Non-Smokers
 

9/11 was just a few days of dust.
She was in smoky rooms-predisco and disco era-for 1000's of hours.

Up until maybe the late 1980's MOST public places had a smoker-usually many smokers-filling the air with cigarette smoke.
I was born in 1951-until maybe 1985 or so 1/2 of all adults SMOKED- many smoked heavily-2pks/d. At family gatherings the rooms were FILLED with smoke-cigarettes and cigars.
Some of my girlfriends were heavy smokers-
Yeah I've gots lots of exposure-and so does anyone born before 1980 or so.

Is radon worse in areas where the bedrock is fairly shallow-10's of feet??

In NOLA-river delta deep, very deep bedrock- not a problem.
People live "too long" now-so low but long term exposures are more important.

Re: 5 Causes of Lung Cancer in Non-Smokers
 

Not necessarily. Some rock contains more uranium than others. Here is a map of likely radon by zip code:


I live right on top of the Reading Prong - a rock formation that has large amounts of uranium and thorium

Re: 5 Causes of Lung Cancer in Non-Smokers
 

What was in the dust when those 3 skyscrapers went down?

Lots of people are sick/dead from 9/11 "dust" -- it's just another one of those deals the MSM can't talk about (much).



http://www.serendipity.li/wot/finn/5/soldier5.htm

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/07...ngs/index.html