Radon Exposure and Neurodegenerative Disease

Silvia Gómez-Anca and Juan Miguel Barros-Dios
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Silvia Gómez-Anca: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago, Spain
Juan Miguel Barros-Dios: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 20, 1-16

Abstract: Background: To carry out a systematic review of scientific literature about the association between radon exposure and neurodegenerative diseases. Methods: We performed a bibliographic search in the following databases: Pub med (Medline), Cochrane, BioMed Central and Web of Science. We collected the data by following a predetermined search strategy in which several terms werecombined. After an initial search, 77 articles were obtained.10 of which fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Five of these 10 studies were related to multiple sclerosis (MS), 2 were about motor neuron diseases (MND), in particular amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and 3 were related to both Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Results: The majority of the included articles, suggested a possible association between radon exposure and a subsequent development of neurodegenerative diseases. Some of the studies that obtained statistically significant resultsrevealed a possible association between radon exposure and an increase in MS prevalence. Furthermore, it was also suggested that radon exposure increases MND and AD mortality. Regarding AD and PD, it was observed that certainde cay products of radon-222 ( 222 Rn), specifically polonium-210 ( 210 Po) and bismuth-210 ( 210 Bi), present a characteristic distributionpattern within the brain anatomy. However, the study with the highest scientific evidence included in this review, which investigated a possible association between the concentration of residential radon gas and the MS incidence, revealed no significant results. Conclusions: It cannot be concluded, although it is observed, that there is a possible causal association between radon exposure and neurodegenerative diseases. Most of the available studies are ecological so, studies of higher statistical evidence are needed to establish a causal relationship. Further research is needed on this topic.

Keywords: radon; multiple sclerosis; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Alzheimer; Parkinson; neurodegenerative diseases (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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