CANCER: Beware these dangers, too

Thanks for your excellent series on the local cancer treatment centers and various forms of these deadly diseases. I do have a couple of suggestions and additions to the articles.

1. Lung cancer: While smoking is and was the primary known causative factor in lung cancer, the No. 1 cause of lung cancer in non-smokers is exposure to radioactive elements, of which radon is locally a pervasive problem. Radon, an odorless, colorless gas, is produced by the radioactive breakdown of uranium. It collects in living spaces of homes, schools and other buildings not protected by impervious plastic film barriers beneath the basement foundation.

Radon canister detection kits are readily available to determine levels at or above the EPA standard (less than 4.0 picocuries per liter of air). Radon mitigation techniques basically consist of evacuation of the radon by vacuum systems which expel the gas to the outside air. New and existing home sales typically require testing levels to qualify for financing.

2. Thyroid cancer: There have been numerous studies documenting the iodine-131 releases from the Hanford Nuclear Site during production runs of plutonium for nuclear weapons during World War II. This isotope was ingested by dairy cattle and concentrated in dairy products subsequently consumed by residents of the Inland Empire.

3. Lastly, strontium-90 produced by the atomic bomb tests in Nevada and elsewhere concentrates in bone. It has an extremely long half-life to effect its damage to cells.

ROBERT S. WEST, M.D., FACS

Coeur d’Alene