Strange effect of Radon?

[Les W]

Not sure if this is for real but if so it seems that Radon has more effects than I thought. It might explain why I feel tired when caving though...  :-\

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/entire-village-hit-mystery-illness-5115387

 

[Laurie]

So their 'unclear' cause was just an anagram away..............

 

[bograt]

I do know that exposure kills people, do you want the list?.

 

[Les W]

I do know that exposure kills people, do you want the list?.

I would have assumed that the levels of exposure necessary to cause all those effects ought to show as an increase in lung cancer in the population, but either they haven't tested or the population isn't large enough for significant stats to emerge or the lung cancers are still to come.  :-\

 

[bograt]

I do know that exposure kills people, do you want the list?.

I would have assumed that the levels of exposure necessary to cause all those effects ought to show as an increase in lung cancer in the population, but either they haven't tested or the population isn't large enough for significant stats to emerge or the lung cancers are still to come.  :-\

OK, lets start with "Mick Fish???"-----

 

[Les W]

I do know that exposure kills people, do you want the list?.

I would have assumed that the levels of exposure necessary to cause all those effects ought to show as an increase in lung cancer in the population, but either they haven't tested or the population isn't large enough for significant stats to emerge or the lung cancers are still to come.  :-\

OK, lets start with "Mick Fish???"-----

I meant in the village in the newspaper article...

 

[grahams]

We have pockets of the 'inert sweet smelling toxic' gas under our house. I think I'd better    zzzz  zzz

 

[mrodoc]

This is bilge! Radon can cause cancer. That's it. End of. See: http://www.epa.gov/radon/healthrisks.html

 

[Duncan Price]

Radon should be a highly narcotic gas like the lighter members of Group 20 elements: argon and xenon (xenon can be used as an anasthetic).  Though I could imagine that to breathe it in high enough concentrations to have a measurable effect would lead to other longer lasting issues.  Radon is implicated in lung cancer though it is drawrfed by the dangers associated by smoking even though it is often quoted as the second biggest factor, there are many other aggrivating factors at around the same risk level.

 

[Les W]

This is bilge! Radon can cause cancer. That's it. End of. See: http://www.epa.gov/radon/healthrisks.html

That link only considers Radon and lung cancer, it does not discount other effects of Radon, it just concentrates on lung cancer and doesn't give any consideration to anything else.
It doesn't mean there aren't any other effects from Radon.  :tease:

 

[mrodoc]

That was just one sample paper. Here is another:http://www.toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/Radon

 

[Laurie]

My understanding is that radon is like lead or mercury - Once it's in your system it's there for ever.
Is that true?

 

[martinr]

My understanding is that radon is like lead or mercury - Once it's in your system it's there for ever.
Is that true?

Radon half life is 3.8 days


    222Rn, 3.8 days, alpha decaying to...
    218Po, 3.10 minutes, alpha decaying to...
    214Pb, 26.8 minutes, beta decaying to...
    214Bi, 19.9 minutes, beta decaying to...
    214Po, 0.1643 ms, alpha decaying to...
    210Pb, which has a much longer half-life of 22.3 years, beta decaying to...
    210Bi, 5.013 days, beta decaying to...
    210Po, 138.376 days, alpha decaying to...
    206Pb, stable.

It's more likely to be lead than radon within 4 days

 

[Les W]

My understanding is that radon is like lead or mercury - Once it's in your system it's there for ever.
Is that true?

Radon 222 is a gas so it is breathed in and out, with no harm as far as I know. However, if the Radon decays whilst in your lungs (quite likely as it has a relatively short half life of 3.8 days) then it becomes a radon progeny, the first one being Polonium which is a solid, not a gas, so it will remain in your lungs unless the body's natural protection systems remove it. Polonium half life is a little over 3 minutes so is quite reactive and will decay quickly to a radioactive isotope of lead. The radon progenies are all short lived and highly active until they decay to Lead 210, which has a half life of 22.3 years so is much more stable and consequently less active. Ultimately this will decay through a couple of more quick decays to Lead 206 which is not radioactive so no further decay will happen. All the radioactive particles will be in close contact with your lung tissue and when they decay give of Alpha or Beta particles that will cause cell mutations and ultimately lung cancer.

More info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radon

 

[grahams]

This is bilge! Radon can cause cancer. That's it. End of. See: http://www.epa.gov/radon/healthrisks.html

That link only considers Radon and lung cancer, it does not discount other effects of Radon, it just concentrates on lung cancer and doesn't give any consideration to anything else.
It doesn't mean there aren't any other effects from Radon.  :tease:

You learn something new every day. I never knew that the the noble gasses were narcotic. I wonder what the mechanism is, given that they are inert.

 

[paul]

My understanding is that radon is like lead or mercury - Once it's in your system it's there for ever.
Is that true?

Radon half life is 3.8 days


    222Rn, 3.8 days, alpha decaying to...
    218Po, 3.10 minutes, alpha decaying to...
    214Pb, 26.8 minutes, beta decaying to...
    214Bi, 19.9 minutes, beta decaying to...
    214Po, 0.1643 ms, alpha decaying to...
    210Pb, which has a much longer half-life of 22.3 years, beta decaying to...
    210Bi, 5.013 days, beta decaying to...
    210Po, 138.376 days, alpha decaying to...
    206Pb, stable.

It's more likely to be lead than radon within 4 days

Half of it is. Then half of the remaining half in 4 days. Then half of that in another 4 days, etc., etc,

 

[martinr]

It's more likely to be lead than radon within 4 days

Half of it is. Then half of the remaining half in 4 days. Then half of that in another 4 days, etc., etc,

Yes, that's why I said its more likely (not  will be). As in: half of it will be lead

 

[cavemanmike]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/entire-village-hit-mystery-illness-5115387#ICID=sharebar_facebook

just found this

 

[Laurie]

Gone full cycle.......... :

'This is where we came in', as we used to say in the old days of cinema.......

 

[Les W]

Not sure if this is for real but if so it seems that Radon has more effects than I thought. It might explain why I feel tired when caving though...  :-\

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/entire-village-hit-mystery-illness-5115387

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/entire-village-hit-mystery-illness-5115387#ICID=sharebar_facebook

just found this

Oy Cavemanmike, try to keep up...  :ras: