Lung Cancer Synthesis Essay

Decent Essays
The only known health effect of radon is an increased chance of developing lung cancer. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking. Because it is radioactive, radon decays. As it decays, radon produces decay products, sometimes called "radon daughters" or "radon progeny". Radon gas and radon progeny in the air can be breathed into the lungs where they breakdown further and emit "alpha particles". Alpha particles release small bursts of energy which are absorbed by nearby lung tissue. This results in lung cell death or damage. When lung cells are damaged, they have the potential to result in cancer when they reproduce.

Lung cancer risk. Smoker + high radon = 1 in 3; high radon only = 1 in 20
Not everyone exposed to radon

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