Human Health Impacts of Residential Radon Exposure: Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Case–Control Studies

Le Thi Nhu Ngoc, Duckshin Park () and Young-Chul Lee ()
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Le Thi Nhu Ngoc: Department of Industrial and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Environment, Gachon University, 1342 Seongnam-daero, Seongnam-si 13120, Republic of Korea
Duckshin Park: Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI), 176 Cheoldobakmulkwan-ro, Uiwang-si 16105, Republic of Korea
Young-Chul Lee: Department of BioNano Technology, Gachon University, 1342 Seongnam-daero, Seongnam-si 13120, Republic of Korea

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: This study investigated the impact of residential radon exposure on human cancers (i.e., lung cancer and childhood leukemia) through a systematic review and meta-analysis of case–control studies. A total of 9724 articles obtained from electronic databases were assessed; however, only 55 case–control studies were eligible after manually screening and eliminating unnecessary studies. The causal associations were addressed by determining the meta-analysis’s estimated size effects (i.e., ORs/RRs) of the meta-analysis. Residential radon was revealed to significantly increase the incidence of lung cancer and childhood leukemia with pooled ORs of 1.38 [1.19; 1.60] (I 2 = 90%; p < 0.00001) and 1.43 [1.19; 1.72] (I 2 = 0% and p = 0.51), respectively. In addition, subgroup analyses were performed to reduce the heterogeneity of the initial meta-analyses. The results provided strong evidence that inhaling radon in the indoor environments is closely associated with the development of lung cancer and childhood leukemia in patients living in Europe and areas with high radon levels (≥100 Bq/m 3 ).

Keywords: radon risk; lung cancer; childhood leukemia; case–control studies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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