Assessment of potential radiological health effects from radon in natural gas

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Abstract
Natural gas contains varying amounts of radon-222, which becomes dispersed in homes when natural gas is used in unvented appliances. Radon decays to alpha -emitting daughter products, which can contribute to lung cancer when inhaled and deposited in the respiratory system. For the average use of unvented kitchen ranges and space heaters, the tracheobronchial dose equivalent to individuals was estimated as 15 and 54 mrem/yr, respectively, or 2.73 million person-rems/yr to the United States population. A review of exposure conditions, lung model parameters, dose conversion factors, and health effect factors indicated this population dose equivelent could potentially lead to 15 deaths a year from lung cancer. This represents only 0.03 to 0.08 percent of normal lung cancer mortality. Since control of radon levels in gas would cost over 0 million for each reduction of one health effect, it was concluded that a requirement for such controls would not be cost effective on a national basis. (auth)

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