RT Journal Article
T1 Residential radon and characteristics of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
A1 Pando Sandoval, Ana
A1 Ruano Raviña, Alberto
A1 Torres Durán, María
A1 Dacal Quintas, Raquel
A1 Valdés Cuadrado, Luis
A1 Hernández Hernández, Jesús R.
A1 Consuegra Vanegas, Angélica
A1 Candal Pedreira, Cristina
A1 Varela Lema, María Leonor
A1 Fernández Villar, Alberto
A1 Pérez Ríos, Mónica
K1 Environmental sciences
K1 Natural hazards
K1 Respiratory tract diseases
AB It is not known whether residential radon exposure may be linked to the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and/or have an influence on the functional characteristics or exacerbations of COPD. The aim of this study was therefore to ascertain whether there might be an association between residential radon concentrations and certain characteristics of COPD. We analyzed COPD cases drawn from a case–control study conducted in an area of high radon exposure. Data were collected on spirometric pulmonary function variables, hospital admissions, and smoking. Radon measurements were taken using alpha-track-type CR-39 detectors individually placed in patients’ homes. All statistical analyses were performed using the IBM SPSS v22 computer software program. The study included 189 COPD cases (79.4% men; median age 64 years). The median radon concentration was 157 Bq/m3. No differences were found between radon concentration and sex, age or severity of breathing obstruction as measured by FEV1%. It should be noted, however, that 48.1% of patients with FEV1% < 50 had radon concentrations below 100 Bq/m3, as compared to 35.6% with the same severity of obstruction who had over 300 Bq/m3. COPD cases with radon concentrations higher than > 600 Bq/m3 exhibited no different characteristics in lung function. Exposure to radon does not appear to have an influence on the clinical characteristics of smokers and ex-smokers with COPD. As exposure to residential radon increases, there is no trend towards a worsening of FEV1%. Further studies are thus needed to analyze this possible association in never-smokers with COPD
PB Springer Nature LTD
SN 2045-2322
YR 2022
FD 2022
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/30135
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/30135
LA eng
NO Pando-Sandoval, A., Ruano-Ravina, A., Torres-Durán, M. et al. Residential radon and characteristics of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Sci Rep 12, 1381 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05421-6
NO Spanish Society of Pneumology & Thoracic Surgery (Sociedad Española de Neumología y Cirugía Torácica—SEPAR), competitive Project Number 439, call 2018
DS Minerva
RD 17 abr 2026